


The Storm Comes

by DoctorpooandtheTURDIS



Series: 1287 [4]
Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms, Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 53,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24153679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorpooandtheTURDIS/pseuds/DoctorpooandtheTURDIS
Summary: It's almost been a year since John-117's arrival in the 1980s, and his subsequent "adoption" of Eleven. And while things seem to be going alright, not all is well within Hawkins.Cortana's rampancy is getting worse. Will is beginning to experience terrifying visions.And an ancient evil has awoken.
Series: 1287 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1713106
Comments: 18
Kudos: 29





	1. Mad Max

**_ October 29th, 1984 _ **

Fall had come to Hawkins, and with it, the spirit of Halloween. False tombstones, fake spiderwebs and skeletons, and a few animatronic ghosts dotted the yards of more than a few houses. The children, and a few teenagers, of the town waited with anticipation for the thirty-first, for the costumes they worked hard on, and the candy that was sure to follow.

Four boys, however, were anticipating tonight for an entirely different reason.

It was Arcade Night.

“Son of a bitch!” Dustin shouted, turning over his couch cushions. “Son of a bitch!” He ran into the other room with the live TV and turned over the cushions on the love seat. “Another stupid penny.” He spat, throwing it over his shoulder.

“Dusty, watch it!” His mother responded. “You almost hit Mews.”

“Can I please check under your cushions?” He asked, ignoring her previous statement.

“Dusty.”

“Mom, please?” He repeated with urgency. “It’s an emergency.” He whined.

His mother responded with a mocking one but got up from her seat anyway. He reached under the cushion, and pulled out two quarters, a big grin now on his face as he looked at his haul.

“Thanks, love you mom!” He shouted as he ran back into his room. Dustin pulled out his supercom and flopped down on his floor. “Lucas, I got four quarters, what’s your haul?”

 _“Take your puny haul and multiply it by five.”_ He bragged.

Dustin double-taked. “How?”

 _“While you were busy_ scrounging, _I was doing actual work.”_ Lucas replied.

“No you weren’t.” Dustin shot back. “You got John to give it to you, didn’t you?”

 _“Hell no! I mowed Old Man Humphrey’s lawn.”_ Lucas elaborated. _“If anyone’s trying to get money from John, it’s Mike’s broke ass.”_

“Nah, John doesn’t like Mike enough to give him free money.” Dustin responded. “Speaking of Mike, you talk to him yet?”

_“No.”_

“Well call him!”

 _“I’m not calling him!”_ Lucas declined. _“I have to go take a shower, you know, from doing actual work? I’ll see you at the Arcade. Over and out.”_

Dustin groaned, and switched channels.

 _“So then, he pushed it into a nose-dive on purpose!”_ Cortana’s voice came from the speaker as soon as Dustin switched to the right channel.

 _“John crashed into the side of a building on purpose?”_ Mike responded.

“Mike, you there?” Dustin cut in before either of them could get another word in. “What the hell are you doing on the emergency channel?”

 _“What the hell am I doing, what the hell are you doing?”_ Mike shot back.

 _“He was trying to talk to El.”_ Cortana explained for the other boy. Even though Dustin couldn’t see Mike, he could practically hear the other boy’s blush.

Dustin groaned. “Are you kidding, Mike? It’s Arcade Night, you know this!”

 _“I was going to ask her if she wanted to come with!”_ Mike defended.

 _“The answer was no, by the way.”_ Cortana explained to Dustin. _“Lot of people in a confined space, not really good for her claustrophobia. We found that out hard enough the first time.”_

_“Which I called bullshit on.”_

Dustin rolled his eyes. “That doesn’t matter. I called you up to tell you that Lucas and I have six bucks total. How much did you get?”

 _“Shit!”_ Mike stammered. _“I don’t know yet!”_

“What do you mean you don’t know yet!?” Dustin replied with exasperation.

 _“Hold on.”_ Mike replied _. “Call Will. Talk to you later, C.”_

 _“…Did he just call me_ C?”

****

Mike, after rummaging through Nancy’s room for her piggybank, pilfering the quarters that were tucked away inside, ran outside and hopped on his bike, on course for the Arcade.

“It’s about damn time.” Dustin remarked as Mike joined the convoy of bikes Dustin, Will, and Lucas had formed.

The neon sign span around, as people walked to and from the Arcade. Even out here, Mike could hear the games running, as the group rolled up to the building. They hopped off their bikes, and set them in the rack, metal clanging against metal. Wasting no time, they ran into the building excitedly. The four pushed through the crowd of people, towards the main attraction.

Dragon’s Lair, the bane of Dustin’s existence. Dustin waited for the poor sap who was challenging the demonic machine to run out of credits and pushed his way up to the controls. The others started to crowd around Dustin, as the boy played up to where he died last time.

“To slay the dragon, use the magic sword!” The voice of the animated Princess Daphne called from the cabinet.

“Oh, Jesus.” Dustin groaned with anxiety. “I’m in uncharted territory here, guys!”

Suddenly, the screen switched, and they all went into a flurry of action.

“Down! Down! Down!” The three at Dustin’s side yelled simultaneously.

“I’m trying!” Dustin yelled back. “I’m trying!”

Dirk the Daring charged across the screen in response to Dustin’s inputs, and they all beamed.

“I’m going! I’m going! I’m going!” Dustin shouted with pride, as his friends all clamored around him. “Okay, shut up. Shut up!” Dustin tapped at the button repeatedly.

Dirk the Daring was set ablaze, and the screen went to Game Over.

“Stupid overpriced piece of shit!” Dustin shouted, kicking the machine. “Son of a bitch! Damnit, the only person who has the reflexes to beat this damn thing is John!”

“If you can get him in here.” Lucas replied. “Until that day, Princess Daphne is still mine.”

“Whatever.” Dustin huffed, smacking the cabinet one last time. “I’ve still got tops on Centipede and Dig Dug.”

“You sure about that?” A voice called from the right, and they all turned to face it. Every last one of them groaned internally upon laying eyes on Keith.

“You sure about what?” Dustin questioned, a sinking feeling taking him over.

Keith said nothing, choosing instead to crunch down on a Cheetos Puff.

“You’re kidding me.” Dustin pushed Will to the side, and charged towards the Dig Dug cabinet, the others trailing not far behind. “No, no, no, no, no.” His hands landed on the cabinet. “No!” He shouted, seeing the unfamiliar name that had overtaken his.

“751,000 points!?” Will breathed, seeing the actual score.

“That’s impossible!” Mike stated.

Dustin turned to Keith. “Who is MADMAX?” He demanded.

Keith shrugged. “Better than you.”

“Is it you?” Will questioned.

Keith scoffed. “You know I hate Dig Dug.”

“Then who is it?” Lucas inquired.

“Yeah, spill it, Keith.” Dustin spat.

Keith bit down on another Cheeto. “You want information, I need something in return.” He looked to Mike.

Dustin turned to look at Mike as well.

“No, no, no!” Mike tried to shut down. “You’re not getting a date with her!”

“Mike, come on.” Lucas said. “Just get him the date!”

“I’m not prostituting out my sister!”

“Is it prostitution if there’s no sex?” Will wondered.

“Shut up, Will.” Mike fired back.

“Don’t get mad at me.” Will threw up his hands. “It was just a question.”

“Come on, Mike, it’s for a good cause!” Lucas continued.

“You know what, no, don’t get him the date. You know why?” Dustin stepped forward to point at Keith. “Cause he’s gonna spread his nasty-ass rash to your whole family!”

Keith looked affronted. “Acne isn’t a rash and it isn’t contagious you prepubescent wastoid.”

“Oh, I’m a wastoid?” Dustin repeated, and the exchange continued.

Suddenly, Will began to shudder slightly, as the air around him went cold, and everything became muffled. The rest of his friends didn’t seem to register it.

Will turned around, feeling the odd compulsion to walk outside. He looked through the glass, and his brow raised in confusion.

It was snowing, but it was nowhere near cold enough.

“Hey.” He began. “Hey guys, do you see the…” Will turned around, to be met with a completely empty arcade.

Everyone was gone.

Everything flashed, and Will’s surroundings changed.

“What the…?” Will questioned, looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings. Fleshy plants grew all over the walls and floor, even into the arcade cabinets. The air was cold and heavy, and the same white substance he saw outside floated around.

The door to the outside flew open by itself, and Will did a one-eighty, jumping with fright. Will took a few uncertain steps outside, looking at the alien substances surrounding him.

Will came to a stop, and looked up at the massive red thunderstorm rolling its way towards him

“Will!” He suddenly heard behind him. Will whipped back around, just in time to see Mike emerging. “You alright?”

Will looked back to where he was facing a moment ago. The night sky was completely clear.

“Yeah.” Will began slowly. “I just… I thought I saw something.”

“Well, come on.” Mike beckoned him back into the building. “You’re up on Dig Dug.”

Will nodded and moved to follow. Yet as he walked back into the building, Will couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

****

**_ The next day… _ **

Hopper pulled up to the Police station and groaned when he saw who was waiting for him outside.

Murray Bauman, a reporter and conspiracy theorist who had been accosting Hopper ever since the odd events surrounding the lab went down.

Hopper got out of his Blazer, and spedwalk inside, trying to bypass Murray.

“Good morning, Jim.” Murray greeted, following behind the cop. “Jim. Hold on a second. We need to talk.”

“Get away from me.” Hopper ordered, pulling the door open.

“Okay, no…” Murray responded, doing his best to keep up. “I think you’re going to want to hear this.”

“Get away from me.” Hopper repeated, turning the corner.

“I only want five minutes.” Murray stated.

“Yeah, I want a date with Bo Derek.” Hopper responded, stopping to shrug off his jacket, as Flo came up and pulled the cigarette out of his mouth. “We all want things.”

“This isn’t a laughing matter, Jim.” Murray shook his head. “This is serious, okay? I’ve really got something here, I’m telling you!”

“Morning.” Hopper said to Powell as he passed.

“Morning Chief.” Powell responded. “Morning Murray.” Powell grinned.

“Got any proof of your butt-probing aliens yet, Murray?” Callaghan rhetorically asked, and Powell burst out laughing.

Murray ignored the both of them. “Jim, I believe that there was, and very well may still be, a Russian spy presence in Hawkins.”

“Russian spies!” Hopper repeated, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Are the spies in cahoots with the aliens?” Callaghan questioned. “I’m confused here.”

“I’m talking multiple reports now.” Murray told Hopper “Multiple reports, okay? Of a Russian child in Hawkins, along with an unidentified armored soldier.”

“A child?” Hopper raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

“A girl with psionic abilities.” Murray elaborated.

“Psionic?” Powell repeated.

“Psychic.” Murray stated, his patience beginning to wear thin.

“Hey chief,” Callaghan began, “What about that girl that broke that kid’s arm?”

“That was a prank.” Hopper turned to Murray, “You got five minutes, not a second more.” He instructed, pulling Murray into his office. Hopper flopped down in his chair, and placed his boots on his desk.

“I talked to a Big Buy ex-employee who said some little girl slammed the door with her mind.” Murray began.

Hopper nodded. “I heard that story. You hear the one about the fat man with a beard who goes down chimneys?”

“Then last month,” Murray continued, increasingly frustrated, “A co-worker of Ted Wheeler’s claims that some Russian girl with a shaved head was living in his basement. Ted now denies this.”

“Hm.” Hopper spat out a bite of the apple he was eating. “What about that soldier?”

Murray shook his head. “Reports about him are unsubstantiated, but several people claim to have seen a figure in green armor running down a street after children on bikes. It connects.”

“Connects?” Hopper snorts as he lights a cigarette. “Enlighten me.”

“The girl, she’s some kind of Russian weapon, right?” Murray supposes. “That soldier is obviously her handler. Barbara, she sees the girl, tries to help her, but before she can, the Russians find them, take them-“

“Hold on,” Hopper held up a hand. “You’re telling me Barbara Holland was kidnapped by Russian spies?”

“Kidnapped, killed.”

“Killed?”

“Don’t you get it, Jim?”

“No.”

“This has potentially international implications.” Murray outlined. “I’m talking a full-on Russian invasion right here in Hawkins!”

Hopper began playing with his typewriter. “Do you have any proof of this girl? Has anyone seen her recently?”

“No, but these are separate-!” Murray begins to shout, as the phone begins to ring.

“Excuse me.” Hopper holds up a finger, reaching for the handset. “Sorry.”

“Okay.” Murray drew his lips into a line.

“Hello?” Hopper spoke into the phone.

 _“Merrill called.”_ Flo’s voice came from the speaker. _“He wants you to check up on his pumpkins. Says they’ve been contaminated by his vengeful neighbor, Eugene. You’re welcome.”_

Hopper made a show of slamming the handset down on the cradle, as he put out his cigarette. “I really hate to do this,” He falsely apologized, “But I’ve got to run. It’s an emergency.”

Hopper got up, pulling his jacket and hat from their places on the stand.

“You gave me five minutes!”

“Yeah, listen, you know what? I like your alien theory a lot better. And you want my advice? Stop bleeding those people dry, and go home.”

“I am not bleeding anyone…” Murray began.

“Listen to me.” Hopper stated. “Go home.”

And Hopper set out, glad to be away from the crackpot.

****

Steve Harrington and Nancy Wheeler were sat in his car, in the parking lot of Hawkins High. Steve had passed her his essay to look over.

“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Steve asked with a grimace.

“No! No!” Nancy replied. “It’s great! It just needs a little… reorganization is all.”

Steve let out a deep sigh.

“Can I mark on it?” Nancy asked with a smile.

“Sure, go ahead.” Steve granted.

“Okay,” Nancy began, “So in the first paragraph, you used the basketball game versus Northern as a metaphor for your life, which I thought was great,” She sincerely complimented, “But then, around here, the subject switches to your grandfather’s experiences in the war, and I don’t…” She stammered. “I don’t see how those connect.”

“Well it… It connects because…” Steve searched for an answer. “Because we, um, we both won.” Steve rubbed his lip for a moment. “Do you think I should start again?”

“No…” Nancy shook her head. “When’s the deadline?”

“It’s tomorrow for early application.” Steve answered. “Can you come and help me tonight?”

“We have that dinner tonight, remember?” Nancy pointed out.

“Oh, my-“

“We canceled last week.” Nancy said. “Look, Barb wasn’t your friend, but she was mine, and I’d appreciate it if you came along.” Steve kept silent, and Nancy shook her head. “You don’t have to go. Just work on this.”

“No, no, no.” Steve sighed. “What’s the point?” He took it back from her and balled up the paper.

“Hey, calm down.”

“I’m calm.” Steve said. “I’m calm. I’m just being honest. I mean… I’m probably going to wind up working for my dad either way.”

“That’s not true.” Nancy said.

“I don’t know, Nance. Is that such a bad thing?” Steve shrugged. “There’s insurance, and benefits, and all that adult stuff. And if I took it, I could be around for your senior year…”

“Steve…” She turned to him.

“Just to look after you.” Steve looked down. “Just to make sure you don’t forget about this pretty face.”

Nancy looked away, a smile and a blush working across her features.

“Nance, I’m serious.” Steve said, as he gave her a peck on the lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

The two sat like that for a moment, lost in each other’s eyes, before the revving of an engine caught their attention.

A blue Chevrolet Camaro pulled into the parking lot, making as much noise as physically possible. Nancy and Steve looked out in confusion as they got out of his car.

Some loud-ass rock song was blasting from the radio, as the car pulled entirely too fast through the parking lot. It pulled into a space with one last rev of the engine, and it cut off, the music coming to a halt.

The door opened, and the occupants got out.

A man not much older than Steve was behind the wheel, wearing a denim jacket and matching jeans. He wore sunglasses, even though it was cloudy out.

A redhead about Mike’s age got out from the passenger side and took off towards the neighboring middle school on a skateboard.

The driver looked around, mullet blowing in the wind. He winked at Nancy, before walking off, stomping on the cigarette that was previously in his mouth.

“He looks like a douchebag.” Steve commented under his breath.

****

“Meet,” Mister Clarke began theatrically, sitting a plastic model down on his desk, “The Human brain. I know, I know, it doesn’t look like much. A little gross, even. But, consider this; There are a hundred billion cells inside this little miracle of evolution. A _hundred billion_ , all working as one. No, no. I did not misspeak, I did not stutter, a hundred billion.”

The door into the room open and shut loudly, catching the attention of everyone present.

“Ah, this must be our new student.” Mr. Clarke said, watching the new arrival enter.

Instantly, the four boys in the Party all looked very interested. The redhead moved past Mister Clarke’s desk.

“Indeed she is.” The principal replied, already moving to leave. “All yours.”

“Oh, hold on.” Mister Clarke stopped her. “You’re not getting away that easy. Dustin? Drumroll please.”

Dustin closed his textbook, and began tapping against it rapidly.

“Class,” Mister Clarke began, “please welcome, all the way from sunny California, Maxine!”

Maxine looked rather put out by the whole display, if they were being honest. “It’s Max.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Nobody calls me Maxine. It’s Max.” She elaborated.

“Well, Max,” Mister Clarke gestured to the empty desk, “Welcome aboard.”

Max went to the desk in the back, and slammed down into it, looking like there were a trillion other places she would rather be.

The boys in the party looked at her curiously for a moment, before looking back at each other. They were all thinking pretty much the same thing.

****

Hopper walked alongside Merrill, through the latter man’s pumpkin patch, looking down at the rotting fruits with disgust.

“You’re saying these were all fine yesterday?” Hopper questioned, stepping over the blackened, moldy husk of one.

“Fine?” Merrill repeated. “These were prize winners, Chief, you should’ve seen ‘em. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what happened. And then I remembered… Eugene.”

“What about him?” Hopper questioned.

“He’s been complaining ‘bout me to just about anybody who’ll listen.” Merrill responded.

“Why’s that?” Hopper inquired, slowing down as they approached the edge of the field.

“Well he started this ‘pick your pumpkin’ thing.” Merrill explained. “Acted like it was trademarked. I said, ‘hire yourself a damn lawyer, see how far that gets you.’”

“You’re telling me that nice old Eugene came out here after dark and doused your field with poison?” Hopper raised his eyebrow.

“Well, not Eugene himself.” Merrill replied. “I’m thinking one of his field hands. Listen, Chief, I don’t go around throwing out accusations lightly. You know me. But this happening the day before Halloween, when sales are peaking?” Hopper bent down to examine one closer. “That’s a hell of a coincidence.”

Hopper leaned back up and pointed over at the corn stalks growing across from them. “You got someone working that field?”

****

“There’s no way that’s Mad Max.” Mike said, looking at the girl through the chain link fence. Recess had come, and the boys were spending their time scoping out the girl, trying to find more info.

“Yeah.” Will agreed. “Girls don’t play video games.”

“You mean besides El?” Dustin’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“That’s Atari, it doesn’t count.” Will denied.

“And even if they did,” Mike continued from before, “You can’t get 750000 points in Dig Dug. It’s impossible.”

“John got more than that on Galaga.” Dustin pointed out.

“First, it’s _Galaga,_ not Dig Dug _.”_ Mike pointed out in response. “Second, he’s got super reflexes. She’s a normal human like the rest of us.”

“Her name is Max.” Lucas added in.

“So what?” Mike shrugged.

“So,” Lucas began, “How many Maxes do you know?”

“I don’t know.” Mike admitted.

“Zero.” Lucas said for him. “That’s how many.”

“Yeah,” Dustin agreed, “And she shows up at school the day after someone with her name breaks my top score? I mean, are you kidding me?”

“Exactly.” Lucas concurred. “So she has to be Mad Max.”

“And plus,” Dustin continued, turning to Mike, “She skateboards, so she’s pretty awesome.”

“Awesome?” Mike raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t even talked to her!”

“I don’t have to, I mean, look at her.” Dustin turned back. “Shit. I’ve lost the target.”

Will sighed and turned to the right. “Oh, there.” He pointed, seeing Max climb up the steps back in. She tossed something into the garbage can, and instantly, Dustin and Lucas charged forward, Mike and Will had to sprint to keep up.

Dustin dove headfirst into the can, searching for what it was Max had dropped. Dustin shouted triumphantly, and pulled himself out, clutching a folded-up sheet of paper.

“Got it.” He began, unraveling it.

‘Stop spying on me CREEPS!’ The note read in blue colored pencil.

“Well, shit.” Dustin groaned.

“She wrote it without us noticing.” Will began. “You have to admit, that is pretty impressive.”

Mike privately concurred.

****

“…And so, five cubed would be…?” Cortana began, an inquisitive hand on her hip.

El was sat down at the coffee table, a spiral notebook and pencil in her hand. Cortana was helping her to learn multiplication and exponents. She had done a bit of growing in the past few months, her hair was now an actual mop of brown curls, and she was getting taller by the day.

El’s brow furrowed. “…Fifteen?”

Cortana shook her head. “Not quite. Remember, when you multiply something, you’re adding it together over and over the amount of times it gets multiplied. When you’re doing exponents, you’re _multiplying_ it over and over based on the number in the exponent. So five times three would be five plus five plus five, but five cubed would be five, times itself, times itself again. Got it?”

El nodded, noticeably unsure. “Five, times five… Twenty-five.”

“Right.”

“Twenty-five times five is…” She chewed on the inside of her lip, as she worked it out. “One-hundred twenty-five?”

Cortana nodded with a proud smile. “That’s right.”

The door to the cabin swung open, and John walked in, carrying an axe. He sat the axe down in the corner and pulled off the coat he was wearing. “That’s the next months’ worth of firewood taken care of.” He reported, hanging the coat up and moving to sit down. “How goes the lesson?”

“Good.” Cortana says.

At the same time, El groans. “If I ever have to do this again, it’ll be too soon.”

The SPARTAN turned to the AI. “Being a bit tough, are you?”

Cortana shrugged. “It’s not my fault she doesn’t live and breath math like I do.”

“Many would say that, as the teacher, it _is_ your fault.” John replied.

“Oh, ha ha.” Cortana sarcastically responded. “Seriously though, she’s doing good. We might make a mathematician out of her yet.”

“Why don’t you call it a day?” John suggested. “It’s almost time for dinner.”

El beamed, and flipped the notebook closed, moving to sit down next to John.

Cortana shook her head theatrically but turned on the TV with the snap of her fingers.

John sighed and relaxed into the soft cushioning of the couch. When he first began taking care of El, he didn’t expect her to become such a fixture in his life.

But she had, and now, the SPARTAN considered her to be like his own family. There were some days where he’d wake up, wondering what the point of it all was if he was stuck, separated from his brothers and sisters by the barrier of time itself. It was then, he’d remember El, without a family of her own, and John would get up with renewed purpose.

Sure, he may have lost his family from the 26th century, but here, he gained a new one.

And that was just fine by him.


	2. Trick-or-Treat, Freak

**_ October 31st, 1984 _ **

Halloween came much like any other day.

John was at the stove preparing breakfast for him and El, and Cortana was at the TV, struggling as she fought another spike of mood swings brought on by rampancy.

John sighed and focused on cooking. He was diligently observing the toast in the pan, when he heard footsteps approaching from behind.

John turned around and was taken aback slightly. El (it was obviously her) was just standing there with a sheet over her, eyes cut out in the cloth.

John raised an eyebrow.

“I’m a ghost now.” El said in place of an explanation. “Boo.”

“You’re about twenty-three years too early for that meme, kid!” Cortana shouted.

“I can see that.” John replied to El, ignoring Cortana as he turned back to the meal he was preparing. “Is there any particular reason why?”

“It’s Halloween.” El explained.

“It is.” John stated as he sat their plates down on the table.

“They wouldn’t see me.” El pointed out.

“Who wouldn’t?” John questioned, as he moved to sit down.

“The bad men.” El answered. “I’ll keep my face covered the whole time. The others are going as the Ghostbusters.” El continued, getting rid of the sheet as she sat down at the table. “I’m going to be the ghost.”

John paused for a moment. “I don’t know. Remember when we tried to get you into the arcade? All those people there? You had a mask then, and you freaked out.”

“It was a tight space.” El pointed out. “We’ll be outside.”

John drew his lips into a line and looked over to Cortana. The AI had a hand on her hip, and a smile on her face.

“Okay, fine.” John granted, and El looked like she was about to start jumping up and down. “But, a few ground rules.”

“Okay.” El nodded.

“One, we stick to the populated streets.” John outlined.

“Alright.”

“And two, I stay by your side at all times.”

El tilted her head. “You’re coming too?”

“You have a problem with that?”

“No.” El shook her head. “But… You don’t have a costume.”

“Which leads me into number three.” John turned to look at the closet on the other side of the cabin. “I think I’m going to go as the recently infamous ‘Hawkins Metal Sasquatch,’ but to get ready, I’m going to need your help.”

What was in that closet, one may ask?

Well, let’s just say it was a certain titanium composite under suit, and its associated armor plating.

****

Hopper sat across from Joyce at her kitchen table, a piece of paper in hand. He should’ve been at the station, but Joyce had called him up with urgent business.

Apparently, that urgent business was a drawing.

“See?” Joyce questioned expectantly, holding the paper at the desired angle out the window. “It’s an exact match.”

Hopper frowned, examining it himself. The trees, the powerlines, even the curve of the hill, all of it was correct, a black and white snapshot of the area in front of the Byers house.

Well, everything was right. Save for the giant, shadowy spider-like creature that took up a large portion of the page.

“Why would he lie to me?” Joyce wondered as Hopper lit a cigarette.

“He’s a kid, Joyce.” Hopper responded.

“I mean…” Joyce stuttered. “I’ve asked him, and he said there’s nothing to worry about. That they’re just… waking nightmares.”

“You got him to talk about it?” Hopper raised an eyebrow.

“I tried to.” Joyce elaborated. “He said he only had the one at the arcade.”

“Hm.” Hopper chuckled slightly. “He’s lying to make you feel better. Shouldn’t that go the other way around?”

“But when he’s describing them,” Joyce continued, ignoring Hopper’s quip, “It’s not like they’re nightmares. It’s like… they’re real.”

“Because they’re not nightmares.” Hopper stated. “They’re panic attacks.”

“Panic attacks?” Joyce repeated. “Why would he have panic attacks?”

“Last year,” Hopper began. “The same monster that got Barb Holland almost got Will. He could’ve died if Our Mutual Friend hadn’t saved him at the last second.”

“But…” Joyce stammered. “Why now?”

“It’s called the Anniversary Effect.” Hopper outlined. “The anniversary of an event can trigger bad memories, flashbacks, and panic attacks. I know,” Hopper continued before Joyce could cut in, “It sounds like BS, but trust me… I know a few guys that go through similar things.”

Joyce shook her head. “What are we supposed to do?”

“You’re asking for my advice?” Hopper cocked an eyebrow. “You know I’m not a medical professional, right?”

“I know, I just… need some help.”

Hopper sighed. “If it were me… Don’t treat him any differently than normal.”

“So, I’m supposed to just, pretend that nothing’s happening?”

Hopper shook his head. “No. But if you go in there, coddling him, treating him like he’s fragile, it’s only going to make things worse.”

Joyce stayed silent for a moment. “I don’t know if I can do that. You know what kind of mother I am.”

“I know.” Hopper replied. “But right now… you just have to do your best.”

****

The four boys of the Party rolled up to the school, decked out in their Ghosbusters costumes. Every year for Halloween, the school allowed students to come in their costumes, which the boys gladly took advantage of.

Will was already there when the other three arrived, humming the theme tune.

“Who you gonna call?” Mike shouted.

“Ghostbusters!” Will finished, walking up.

“Hey, Spengler!” Mike smiled, reading the name tag on Will’s jumpsuit.

“Venkman!” Will yelled, running up to Lucas.

“Whoa, whoa.” Mike stopped Lucas.

“What?” Lucas questioned.

“Why are you Venkman?” Mike demanded, looking at the name tag that he and Lucas shared.

“Because I’m Venkman.” Lucas stated.

“No, I’m Venkman.” Mike argued.

“Why can’t there just be two Venkmans?” Will shrugged.

“Because there’s only one Venkman in real life!” Mike retorted. “We planned this out months ago! I’m Venkman, Dustin’s Stens, you’re Egon, and Lucas is Winston.”

“I specifically _didn’t_ agree to Winston.”

“Yeah, you did!”

“I don’t think he did.” Will concurred.

“No one wants to be Winston, man.” Lucas said.

“What’s wrong with Winston?” Mike questioned.

“He joined the team super late,” Lucas began, “he’s not funny, and he’s not even a scientist!”

“Yeah, but he’s still cool.” Mike crinkled his face.

“Oh yeah? If he’s so cool, why don’t you be Winston then?” Lucas fired in response.

“I can’t!”

“Why not?”

“Because…” Mike stuttered.

“Because you’re not black?” Lucas raised his eyebrow.

“I didn’t say that!”

“You thought it.”

“Guys…” Dustin suddenly intruded. “Guys! Guys!” He shouted, and Mike and Lucas quit their arguing. “Why is no one else wearing costumes?”

At that, Will began surveying the area, looking around. No one, not even the younger students, were in costumes.

 _‘Oh hell.’_ Will thought to himself. _‘We are so going to get made fun of way harder than usual today.’_

****

Steve and Nancy were sat in the school Library after their classes had ended, trying to get a head start on most of their homework assignments. The two sat silently as they worked, but Nancy could feel Steve glancing over at her every few moments.

He knew something was wrong.

The tip of her pencil broke as she tried to write, and Nancy sighed, getting up to the pencil sharpener. She put the pencil in, began turning the crank, and looked around as she waited.

She saw Barb again.

Now, don’t get Nancy wrong. She knew it wasn’t her, but the woman’s hair, the clothes she was wearing, her silhouette… She looked so much like Barb, it almost physically hurt Nancy, and she found herself reliving the last conversation she and Barb had.

“Nancy.” Steve suddenly came up from behind her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “What’s going on?” He softly questioned. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just…” Nancy trailed off. “Spaced out.” She looked into the adjacent room, empty of all people. She grabbed Steve by the wrist, and pulled him after her, shutting the door once they were inside. “I can’t keep doing this.” Nancy paced back and forth.

Steve frowned in confusion, and a little bit of fear. “Doing what?”

“Pretending like everything’s okay.” Nancy responded.

Steve’s frowned depended. “What are you talking about?”

“Barbara.” Nancy answered, on the verge of tears. “It’s like… everyone’s forgotten except me.”

“She ran away.” Steve shrugged. “Her car was found at a bus stop outside town, remember?”

Nancy let out a rueful chuckle. “If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge I’d like to sell you.” Nancy swallowed the sob that was fighting its way to escape. “She didn’t run away. The day after she disappeared, I found her car. It was still on the side of the road where we parked. They moved it.”

“They?” Steve questioned. “Who’s they? Her parents?”

Nancy turned away from him. “I can’t tell you.”

Steve stayed quiet for a moment. “You’re in deep, aren’t you?”

Nancy rubbed at her eyes. “There’s a reason why I keep visiting her parents for dinner. And why I keep asking you to come along.” Nancy shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.”

Steve took a breath and placed his hands on hers. “Hey, I will keep going to as many dinners with them as you want me to. But tonight? Tonight, let’s just be stupid teenagers, with the stupid costumes we’ve been working on, for the past stupid amount of time.”

Nancy sniffled again but smiled. “You still want to go to that party at Tina’s?”

Steve shrugged. “I do. Unless… you have any better ideas?”

She really didn’t.

****

“Careful!” Cortana guided. “Careful! Right there!”

The torso and back portion of the MJOLNIR armor hovered into position, and locked into place with a snap, the suit being assembled piece by piece.

John was stood in the center of the cabin in his black undersuit, arms out as El used her abilities to lift the heavier bits of the armor into position. So far, she was doing well with fine control, as well as moving multiple pieces at a time. As it could be said, everything was going well for the most part.

He wasn’t going to talk about the near accident with the codpiece.

The SPARTAN gave his torso an experimental shake, and when he was satisfied that the armor was safely locked into place, he began moving. His legs and torso had been finished, which only left the arms.

“Your suit has so many pieces.” El remarked, as the next pieces were secured to his arms.

“I know.” The Master Chief returned. “Stand back.” He warned. “I don’t want you to accidentally get electrocuted.”

El obeyed, and the SPARTAN picked up the helmet. He slid it over his head, and it locked into place. Everything was dark on the inside, before the power systems kicked in fully, and the BIOS activated, text running across his vision. The BIOS faded away once everything was complete, the real world taking its place, and his shields hummed as they activated, the bar at the top of his vision filling completely.

Satisfied that everything was working as it should, John picked up Cortana’s chip, and slotted it into the helmet.

“Oh…” Cortana let out a… pleasured sigh, as she entered the suit’s systems. “Let me tell you, it is good to be back in here. No offense, John, but space isn’t exactly an abundance in your head.”

“Just don’t make a mess of the place.” John instructed. “If you do, I can’t clean it up.” He turned to El. “You ready?”

El smiles, grabs the sheet with the eyeholes cut out of it, and throws it over herself. El looked up at John expectantly.

“Ready.”

****

“So,” Hopper began, sitting across from Eugene. When Hopper pulled up to the station after leaving Joyce’s house, Eugene’s truck was already in the parking lot. The bed was covered with a tarp, concealing pumpkins that were rotting away just as badly as Merrill’s had been. Lo and behold, when Hopper entered the building, there was Eugene, pointing the proverbial finger at Merrill.

“You’re telling me that Merrill poisoned your farm,” Hopper continued, looking Eugene in the eye, “Because he thought you poisoned his, which of course, you didn’t?”

“No sir!” Eugene defended. “And I got me an alibi the night he says I did it.” The old farmer explained. “My Jenny and her boys were in town. I was with them all night.”

“Did you actually _see_ Merrill?” Hopper questioned.

“No need. That man done lost his mind.” He shook his head. “Running around slandering me, threatening all sorts of madness.”

“A pumpkin conspiracy!” Powell snarked from his desk.

“Hawkins’ very own _Chinatown.”_ Callaghan continued.

“Listen,” Hopper leaned forward, ignoring the two officers, “Merrill threatening to do something, and him actually doing it, are two totally different things.”

“You got a better explanation?” Eugene demanded.

“Cold weather.” Hopper shrugged.

“It’s October.”

“It’s a cold one.”

Eugene held up his hands. “You see these hands? You know why they look like that?”

“Because you’re old?”

“You’re damn straight.” Eugene made his point. “And I’ve been doing this a long time, chief, a long time.” He crossed his arms. “Ain’t never seen nothing like this. None of us have.”

Hopper raised an eyebrow. “None of us?”

“Oh, Merrill didn’t his just me last night!” Eugene stated. “He hit damn near everyone!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Jack O’Dell,” Eugene named, “Pete Freeling, Rick Neary, the Christensens. All of their crops, dead!”

Hopper frowned. Maybe it was just a vengeful farmer that decided to take everyone else down with him, but maybe… It was around this time last year freaky stuff started happening.

“Tell you what,” Hopper grabbed a pen and paper, “Let’s go take a look.”

****

Hopper and Eugene walked through Eugene’s field, and the Police Chief frowned. The state of the place was damn near identical to Merrill’s.

“Now, you try and tell me with a straight face,” Eugene began as Hopper crouched down for a closer look, “Cold did this?”

Hopper frowned. “How far does it go?” He questioned, and Eugene led him to the edge of the woods.

Hopper’s eyes locked onto a tree not far into the woods. He approached it curiously, and reached a hand out to touch it.

Hopper grimaced, as the strange, mucus like substance squelched under his touch, and he pulled his hand away.

 _“Hey, Chief, come in.”_ Hopper’s radio crackled with Powell’s voice. _“You there?”_

“Yeah,” Hopper responded, “How’s it look?”

_“Like a giant pissed all over Jack’s bean field. Smells too. It smell over there?”_

“Yeah. Kind of.” Hopper replied, trying to wipe the substance away. “Listen, I want you guys to track the rot, see how far it goes. Just mark anything that’s dead.”

_“That’s going to take some time.”_

“So take it. And look, we don’t know what caused this, could be poison, could be something else, so don’t touch anything without gloves. Clear?”

It took Powell a moment to reply. _“Copy that, Chief.”_

Hopper turned to Eugene. “You got any marking flags?”

****

“…I’m just saying, dude, the Terminator is like, an actual robot.” Dustin began, he and the rest of the Party walked down the street as night fell. “It doesn’t need food, it doesn’t need sleep, and it survived getting both of its legs and one of its arms ripped off.”

“John would still kick its ass.” Will retorted.

“Uh, have you even _seen_ the movie?” Dustin questioned.

“Yes,” Will answered, “And the Terminator got crushed to death. If it couldn’t survive that, then it wouldn’t survive John.”

“Come on, guys,” Dustin turned to Mike and Lucas. “Back me up here.”

“Terminator would win.” Lucas concluded.

Dustin turned to Mike.

“John’s got power armor.” Mike stated conclusively.

Dustin snorted. “Power armor is for pussies.”

“You want to say that to my face?”

Everybody snapped to the left and jumped. John was stood there, clad in his full armor, arms crossed over his chest.

“Ah!” Dustin shouted. “Don’t scare us like that!”

“Ha ha!” Cortana laughed. “You should have seen your faces!” She used the flashlight on John’s helmet to mimic a camera flash. “That one’s going in the scrapbook.”

Will looked at the ghost at the SPARTAN’s side. “Hi, El.” He waved.

“Hi.” She shyly responded, looking around at all of the people darting between houses.

“How did you sneak up on us like that?” Mike questioned. “You weigh like half a ton!”

“Practice.” John looked down at El. “You ready?”

El looked around uncertainly but nodded.

“Then let’s get started.” The SPARTAN said. He turned to the other children. “Is there a particular way to do this, or…?”

“Nope.” Mike shook his head. “We just walk up to any house with a light on, knock on the door, and say ‘trick-or-treat.’ Simple.” His eyes landed on one house, and he took charge up to the porch. “Watch.” He said, knocking on the door.

The door swung open, and the boys all said trick-or-treat at once, El taking a moment to catch up.

“Oh!” The owner of the house beamed. “Aren’t you cute? The little exterminators. Oh, and a ghost and a spaceman!” She held out the bowl, and the boys all took a handful, El being much more cautious, only took one, putting it in the pillowcase she carried by her side.

The boys turned around to leave, and El and John followed.

Lucas, once they were out of earshot of the house, sighed. “If I get another Three Musketeers, I’m gonna kill myself.”

“What’s wrong with Three Musketeers?” Dustin asked.

“What’s wrong with Three Musketeers?” Lucas repeated.

“No one likes three musketeers.” Mike entered in

“It’s just nougat.” Will concurred.

El looked up at John. Even though her face was concealed, the SPARTAN could still see her eyebrow raise inquisitively, and John just shrugged.

“Whoa, ‘just nougat?’” Dustin continued. “It’s in the top three for me.”

“Top three?” Mike questioned.

“Top three.” Dustin repeated. “I could eat a whole bowl of nougat, straight up.”

John’s vision darted down to the motion tracker in his helmet. A new blip popped onto it and was moving towards them fast. In response, he turned to track the movement’s originator.

A girl in a mask, wielding a plastic knife. John relaxed, but placed his hand on El’s shoulder, causing the girl to stop and look up at him once more. John gestured to the new arrival, unnoticed by the rest of the boys, until she jumped out in front of them screaming.

Lucas screamed for a good five seconds longer than the rest of them.

“Holy shit!” The girl laughed. “You should’ve seen your faces! I was worried he,” She gestured to the Chief, “Was going to say something, but that went perfectly! And you?” She looked at Lucas. “Who screams like that? You scream like a little girl.”

Mike sighed, “John, El, this is Max. Max, this is El and John.”

“Hello.” The SPARTAN nodded.

“Yeah, what’s up?” She turned around, walking away. Max seemed to register that there were no footprints behind her and turned back around. “You guys coming or what? Oh, I heard we should hit up Loch Nora, it’s where all the rich people live, right?”

The rest of the children turned to John.

The SPARTAN shrugged, and the group charged off after Max, except for Mike, who just sighed, and walked along.

“Come on, guys, it’s not a race.”

****

“Another full size.” Dustin beamed as the group, Him, Max, and Lucas at the front, walked away from the latest house they targeted. “Like, seriously, rich people are such suckers…” He turned to Max. “Wait you’re not rich right?”

Max chuckled. “No. I live up Old Cherry Road.”

“Oh.”

“No, it’s fine.” Max responded. “I mean, the street’s good for skating.”

“Hmm…” Dustin took a bite out of a chocolate bar. “Yeah, totally tubular.” To which Max rolled her eyes. “What? Did I say that right?”

Near the back, Mike sighed.

“What is it?” Will asked.

“Did you agree to this?” Mike questioned.

Will frowned. “Agree to what?”

“To her.” Mike gestured at Max. “Joining our party.”

“She’s just coming trick-or-treating with us.” Will responded.

“You should’ve checked it with me.”

Will frowned. “Checked it?” He repeated. “Mike, that’s basically saying we have to ask your permission before we can make more friends.”

“I didn’t say that!”

“You meant it…”

“Look, don’t you think it’s a little crowded?” Mike inquired, and he sped ahead.

Will came to a stop, looking at Mike with confusion as he walked up the driveway of the next house.

“You okay?” El asked Mike, as she and John caught up to the rest of them.

“Yeah…” Mike sighed. “I’m fine. Let’s just hit this next house.”

The group walked up the driveway, and Dustin took charge this time, rapping his knuckles against the door.

As the children collected the candy, John’s HUD began to flicker and glitch.

“John…” Cortana warned, taking care not to accidentally broadcast it over the speakers. “Something’s wrong…”

John turned back to the children and froze.

Where was Will?

****

Will was walking along, trying to catch up to the rest of them when he tripped, and dropped Bob’s camera. He would’ve been worried about it, worried that he accidentally broken it, but right now, a far more primal fear had overtaken Will.

He was back in, what he could only assume, was Hell.

“Mike?” He called, his voice echoing throughout the place. “Lucas? Dustin? El? John?”

Will came to a stop, just as his foot was about to get caught against some kind of fleshy root. And something nearby him chittered and growled. His head whipped around, trying to find whatever it was that was making the noise, and Will’s vision locked in front of him.

A massive shadowy swarm, rose up in the distance, sparking with red lightning. And though it had no eyes, Will got the distinct impression that it was looking at _him._

Will turned and ran, around the back of one of the houses, as the massive entity crooked towards the ground. He ran down a set of stairs, and curled up in the corner, breathing heavily.

“Will!” Mike’s voice shouted as he placed a hand on his arm. “Will, are you alright?”

“I…” Will looked around, breathing heavily.

“Holy shit!” Dustin yelled charging down the steps, with the rest of the group.

“Is he okay?” Lucas questioned, seeing Will’s shaking and unsteady breathing. “Why’d he run off like that?”

“I don’t know.” Mike replied.

“Move.” El calmly ordered, pushing her way up to Will. She kneeled down next to him, and wrapped her arms around him, pulling the boy up.

Will said nothing, looking around and whimpering in fear.

El turned to John. “Home.”

John nodded and looked down at the rest of the kids. “I’m going to get him home.” John vowed, as El firmly grasped one of Will’s hands in her own to keep him steady. “You kids enjoy the rest of the night.” He said, moving to leave up the steps.

“What’s wrong with him?” Max inquired, looking at the retreating forms.

“His mom gets panic attacks sometimes.” Dustin explained. “I guess it runs in the family.”

Mike frowned to himself.

Well, so much for Halloween.


	3. The Pollywog, Part One

John, Will, and El made the trek back in silence. Even though Will’s breathing had steadied, El pointedly refused to let go until he was back at his house.

Once they got back, John knocked on the door, waiting patiently.

It swung open, revealing a man on the other side in a Dracula costume. The man took in a deep breath, as if he was about to say something, but the words died when he laid eyes on Will.

“The RadioShack guy?” Cortana whispered

“Will?” He asked, looking down at the boy. “What’s wrong kiddo?”

Will didn’t respond.

“Is Joyce here?” John inquired.

“Yeah,” The man stepped aside, “She’s here.”

John nodded and stepped inside, Will and El trailing not far behind.

Joyce was in the kitchen doing something, but heard the commotion, and went to investigate. She turned the corner and froze, seeing the haunted look on her son’s face.

“Will?” She questioned, approaching him. “What’s wrong?”

Will couldn’t respond.

****

“He said something a few days ago.” Joyce explained to the SPARTAN. Bob had been understanding enough and gave the two some privacy as they talked. John’s helmet sat off to the side, and the SPARTAN supported his head in his hand. “About the arcade, and I found this in his room.” She gestured down to a drawing. “Hopper says it’s just regular panic attacks, but…”

“But you know better.” John finished for her.

Joyce nodded. “Will gets panic attacks sometimes. But never like this. I’ve had my fair share too, but never one where I’ve hallucinated.”

John frowned. “Maybe…” He began, deep in thought. “Maybe it wasn’t a hallucination.”

Joyce looked on with anticipation. “What do you mean?”

“Before I noticed that Will had broken off from the rest of the group, Cortana said that something was wrong.” John explained. “I thought it was another one of her episodes, but maybe…”

“Maybe something was actually happening.” Joyce concluded.

John nodded. “Maybe.”

“So…” Joyce began. “How do we stop it before it happens again?”

“That,” John said, “Is the big question.”

****

El paced around Will’s room curiously, looking at the objects scattered around, as the boy explained to her what was going on. He filled her in about the previous times he experienced episodes at the arcade and outside his house, and El quickly berated him for being stupid and not telling anyone.

“It’s like…” Will struggled to find the right way to describe it. “It’s like I’m stuck.”

“Stuck?” El tilted her head. “Like…” She searched for the right way to describe it. “Unable to leave?”

“No.” Will shook his head. “More like a…” Will chewed on the inside of his mouth. “Do you know what a View-Master is?”

El nodded. It was one of the things John had gotten for her for Christmas.

“It’s like that, when it gets caught between two slides.” Will explained. “It’s like, I’m over here, but at the same time… I’m somewhere else?”

“Upside-Down.” El finished for him.

Will took in a fearful breath. “Is that what you think it is?”

El nodded. “I can… sense it.”

“What, like a smell?” Will inquired.

“It’s like a smell. But I don’t use my nose.” El tried to elaborate. “I just… _know_ it’s there. When I’m near you the air gets cold. And thick. And… old.”

“You already said cold.”

“Not cold.” El shook her head. “ _Old._ Like ancient.”

Will fell silent for a little while. “While I was there, I was being chased. By a monster. A big… shadowy, thing, and it felt like it was looking right at me. What do you think that was?”

“I don’t know.”

Will paused, their breathing now the only sound in the room. “Do you think it’s real? Or, am I just… going insane?”

“…I don’t know.” El admitted. “I’ve been able to sense the Upside-Down around you ever since we met. I don’t know why, but it’s just you.”

“Do you think,” Will began, “Do you think the Demogorgon had something to do with it? I didn’t get taken like Barb was, but one of its portals opened up right behind me.”

“...”

A knock came on the door, and both children’s heads snapped to it, as it swung open. Behind it, stood Joyce and John.

“Come on, El.” John gently instructed. “Time for us to head home.”

“Okay.” El nodded. She turned to Will one last time and wrapped her arms around him. “You’re going to be fine. I’m here if you need me.”

“Thanks, El.” Will smiled in return. “I’m sorry you only got to Trick-or-treat for a little while.”

“It’s fine.” El replied. “Friends are more important than candy.”

And then, they were gone.

****

**_ November 1st, 1984 _ **

The next morning came like normal. Will got dressed for school, and was ready to leave only this time, his mother was insistent that someone drive him. And Bob volunteered.

At first, Will was a bit reluctant, but once they got going, Will calmed. Bob wasn’t actually all that bad, maybe a bit nerdy, which given the company Will kept, he’d be a bit hypocritical if Will said he didn’t like that about Bob.

Still, the man was alright, and after he regaled Will with the story about how he overcame his childhood nightmares, finally dropped the boy off at school, and Will went about his day as usual.

He didn’t even notice that Dustin was nowhere to be seen until he came bursting into Mister Clarke’s classroom during the middle of the lesson, loudly stage-whispering to them that they needed to meet in the AV club at lunch, then turning around to pass the same message onto Max.

Will initially disregarded it as Dustin being his usual self.

Then, he heard the chitter come from Dustin’s backpack.

****

“And we found some more by Gilbert’s farm.” Powell reported, as Hopper used a pen to mark out places on a map in the police station.

“Yeah, real nasty stuff.” Callaghan remarked. “It was sticky.”

Hopper took a step back from the map. He chewed his lip in thought. “Alright. Where else?”

Powell flipped his notepad closed. “That was it, Chief.”

“That was it, or you just get tired of looking?” Hopper demanded.

“It was getting dark.” Powell stated slowly.

“It was really dark.” Callaghan agreed.

Hopper scoffed and shook his head. “They’re called flashlights, you dipshits.” He turned back to the map.

“Oh, okay, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” Callaghan mumbled.

Hopper frowned, looking at the map. There wasn’t much to go on, but the way the areas were distributed over the map…

Hopper tore the map off the wall and placed it down on the table. He drew a circle that evenly cut through the areas on the outermost part of the map, then another one that went through the middle layer, then one last one that cut through the two crosses at the very center.

Hopper marked a dot at the very center.

He grabbed the map, his jacket, and his hat.

He had someplace he needed to investigate, pronto.

****

“You’re still in your suit.” El remarked, as she watched John go about cooking lunch. His helmet was off to the side, and the girl poked at it experimentally, as if it would burn her.

“Cortana’s enjoying the space.” John replied, as he set a few pieces of chicken down on the plate. “Besides, you looked too tired to stand by the time we got home last night, let alone help me remove my armor.”

El frowned. “There’s more to that, isn’t there?”

John sighed. “How you manage to pick up on these things…” He shook his head. “We don’t know if the nightmares Will’s experiencing are just nightmares, or something else. Cortana’s using the suit’s systems to help along with her calculations, even though she shouldn’t be calculating anything in her state.”

“Hey,” Cortana appeared on the SPARTAN’s shoulder, blood red instead of her usual blue, “ _I’ll do my job, and_ _you do yours_!” She said, and a spike of pain hammered into John’s temples. The SPARTAN shook the pain away, and Cortana sighed. “I’m sorry. Asking me not to perform calculations is like asking you not to breathe.”

“It’s fine.” John replied, setting the plates down at the table, though he dare not sit in the chair with his armor on. “What have you come up with?”

“A whole lot of nothing.” Cortana shook her head. “Well, that’s a bit wrong. I’ve got a lot of stuff. I’m just… not sure how to piece it together.”

“What have you got?” The SPARTAN repeated.

“Well,” Cortana began, “Will’s pretty much saturated in portal energy, but there’s no way to tell if that’s because of his proximity to the Demogorgon when it attempted to abduct him, or something else entirely.”

“Stuck.” El spoke up. “He said it was like he was stuck between two slides. Flashing between one place and another.”

“It would make sense.” Cortana nodded. “If we think of it like magnets, the energy in Will is trying to get back to where it came from, and he’s just unlucky enough to be pulled along for the ride. But there’s no way to tell for sure, unless we stay by Will until the next time he gets an episode. But there are problems with that, like the fact that we can’t predict when the next one will happen.”

“Right.” John agreed. “What else?”

“I’ve been monitoring police chatter about the farms in the area.” Cortana reported. “Apparently, all of the farms within a certain radius have all had their crops mysteriously die off. Accusations of sabotage are flying around, but it seems a bit too widespread to be just a vengeful farmer.

“It could be blight.” John hypothesized.

“Could be.” Cortana granted. “Finally, comm traffic to and from the lab is up. They’ve been sending people through the gate and running burn operations to keep it contained until they can devise a way to close it.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.” Cortana confirmed. “I have plenty of data… but who knows how it fits together, if at all.”

El frowned. “…I wish there was more we could do. Will doesn’t deserve this.”

“No.” The SPARTAN agreed. “He doesn’t.”

 _“Cortana,”_ The suit’s radio crackled to life, Dustin’s voice coming out of the speaker at max volume, _“Cortana, come in.”_

John looked down to the AI with an eyebrow raised, silently asking why Dustin was calling over the suit radio. She shrugged in response.

“I’m here, Dustin.” She replied. “Go ahead.”

_“We’ve got something here we need you to check out.”_

****

“What…” Mike began, peering down into the ghost trap prop Dustin had set down in the AV club room. “Is that?”

That in question, was a yellow slug-like creature. Mucus-yellow. It chittered and growled as it crawled around in the trap, and all assembled looked on in bewilderment.

Dustin gave them a brief outline of what he wanted them to see on the way. Last night, after he returned home, he heard a rustling in his trash bin. He pulled the lid off, and there it was, climbing through the trash.

“His name is D’Artagnan.” Dustin replied with a grin. He reached down, gingerly picking it up with his hands, lifting it out for all to see better. “Cute, right?” He asked of Max.

“D’Artagnan?” Mike repeated.

“Dart, for short.” Dustin outlined, petting the thing with his finger.

“And…” Max began, looking at it with equal parts curiosity and disgust. “You found it in your trash?”

Dustin nodded with a smile. “Foraging for food.” Dustin looked down at the creature, and then back up a Max. “You want to hold him?”

Before Dustin could even finish, she began shaking her head. “No, no!”

Regardless, Dustin deposited Dart into her hands.

“Ew!” Max squirmed. “It’s slimy!” She passed it off to Lucas.

“Oh,” Lucas groaned, “He’s like a living booger.” He passed it onto Will.

“Oh, God!” Will wretched, pawning Dart off to Mike.

Mike, to his credit, didn’t react with the same disgust, as he lifted Dart up to eye level. “What is he?”

Dustin grinned even wider. “My question exactly.” He ran over to his bag, and pulled out a stack of books, slamming down on the table. “My first thought,” Dustin began, as he flipped through the pages of one. He landed on the page he sought, and continued, “Was that he was some sort of pollywog.”

“Pollywog?” Max repeated.

“Another word for tadpole.” Dustin explained. “A tadpole is the larval stage of-“

“I know what a tadpole is.” Max cut him off.

“Then you know,” Dustin expectantly continued, “That most tadpoles are aquatic. Well, Dart, he isn’t. He doesn’t need water to survive.”

“Yeah, but, aren’t there non-aquatic pollywogs?” Lucas questioned.

Dustin nodded. “There are.” He held up two fingers. “Two. One from South America, one from India. So how did one end up in my trash?”

“Maybe some scientists brought some over and one escaped?” Max proposed.

“Maybe.” Dustin granted. “But Dart,” He gestured, “Doesn’t match them physically.”

“Do you guys see that?” Mike suddenly questioned, looking down at the tiny creature. “It looks like there’s something moving inside him.” Mike reached up for the lamp and pulled it over Dart for a closer look.

As soon as the light hit Dart, he screeched, and began frantically crawling out of the light, almost running off of the table, had it not been for Dustin’s timely intervention.

“It’s okay.” Dustin said to Dart. “I got you little guy. I know you don’t like that.” He turned back to the others. “That’s another thing. Reptiles, they’re cold-blooded. Ectothermic.”

“Like dinosaurs.” Will entered.

“Right.” Dustin nodded. “They love heat, they love the sun. Dart _hates_ it.” Dustin explained. “It hurts him.”

“So,” Lucas began, “If he’s not a pollywog, or a reptile…”

Dustin’s grin intensified. “Then I’ve discovered a new species.”

“This is…” Mike shook his head. “This is insane.” He breathed. “Are you _sure?”_

“Dude,” Dustin replied, “I’ve checked every book I could get my hands on.”

“Maybe you’re not checking the right ones.” Mike returned.

“We’re in Hawkins, man.” Dustin stated. “It’s not like we’ve got the Library of Alexandria here.”

“No.” Mike agreed. “But we do have one of the largest collections of wisdom mankind has ever produced…”

Dustin balked. “No way, I’m not calling her.”

Max leaned closer to Lucas. “Who’s ‘her?’”

“I’ll explain later.” Lucas whispered back.

“You have to call her!” Mike retorted. “What if his slime’s poisonous?”

Will instantly went to go wipe his hands off.

“You’ve obviously never tried to talk to her while she’s watching her shows.” Dustin fired back. “It’s like Satan himself has possessed her.”

Mike scoffed. “She can’t be that bad.”

“She managed to make every house on my street lose power for a whole week.” Dustin outlined. “I’m not sure how the hell she did it.”

Mike sighed. “If you call her… She might tell you the effects your discovery has on the history of mankind…”

Dustin froze up for a second. “Fine, I’ll do it.” He moved to go procure his radio. “But if she starts threatening to blow up transformers, this was all your idea. Cortana,” He pressed down the button, “Cortana, come in.”

 _“I’m here, Dustin.”_ The AI replied, and Max’s eyes shot to the radio, wondering how in the hell the boys knew a woman with a voice like _that. “Go ahead.”_

“We’ve got something here we need you to check out.” Dustin explained.

_“Who’s there with you?”_

“Mike, Will, Lucas, and Max.”

_“What is it you need checked out?”_

“Well…” Dustin began. “It’s kind of odd.”

_“Dustin… this better not be about another rash.”_

Dustin went red and began stammering. “What!?”

 _“Relax.”_ Cortana chuckled. _“I’m just winding you up. We’ll be there in…”_ Her voice got distant, as though she turned away from the microphone. _“Twenty? Thirty?”_ Her voice refocused. _“We’ll be there in thirty minutes, just hang tight.”_

The bell rang, and everybody’s heads shot up.

“Wait until we get let out.” Dustin replied. “Should be around three.”

_“Roger that. See you when we see you.”_

“Come on.” Dustin put his supercom away. “Let’s get back to class.”

****

Joyce and Bob sat down together outside Melvald’s, enjoying lunch together.

“Last night was fun.” Bob remarked, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

Joyce smiled sadly. “Until we got interrupted. I’m sorry, by the way.”

“Nah,” Bob smiled back, “I don’t mind.” He did raise an inquisitive eyebrow, however. “Who was that with Will, though? I’ve seen him come into the store before, but I didn’t realize you knew him.”

“That was John.” Joyce explained. “Around this time last year… he saved Will from a bear attack.”

“A bear attack?” Bob repeated, balking. “I had no idea.”

“Will doesn’t like to talk about it.” Joyce responded. “He… He almost died.”

“Oh…” Bob looked quite embarrassed. “I’m sorry if I overstepped anything.”

“No!” Joyve was quick to deny. “No, you didn’t do anything.”

“Okay… It’s just…” Bob stuttered. “I like you so much.” He paused while he tried to find the words. “Not just you, everything that comes with you. Your family, your boys.” Which made Joyce smile. “And I hope it’s not wishful thinking, but… I kinda feel like I’m breaking through with them. Not so much Jonathan.” Bob amended, looking away. “He’s a tough cookie to crack, but… With Will, I don’t know, I feel like we’re connecting.”

“He likes you.” Joyce took another bite.

“Yeah?” Bob raised an eyebrow.

“I can tell.” Joyce nodded. “I think it’s because you remind him of… well, him. Just older. Less insecure.”

“Good…” Bob smiled proudly, as he went to go open a Dr. Pepper. “Oh, there was something else I wanted to mention. I didn’t want to do it earlier, given that he was having a panic attack, and it’s not a big deal, but… This morning I noticed my JVC was a little dinged up.”

Joyce’s brow furrowed. “Your what?”

“My camera.” Bob elaborated.

“Oh.”

“It still works fine and everything,” Bob was quick to say, “But I went back and watched the tape… And there were some older kids picking on Will.”

“What?”

“They scared him.”

Joyce flushed with anger. “Who were they?” She demanded. “Were they the Zimmerman brothers again?”

“Um, I don’t know.” Bob admitted. “They were wearing masks, and makeup… Maybe. They were the right age.”

“I’ll kill them.” Joyce spat through gritted teeth. “I swear to all that’s holy, I’ll kill them…”

Bob smiled. “That’s what I love about you. You punch back.” Bob chuckled. “I was never one to put up a fight. I struggled a lot like Will when I was a kid.” Bob admitted. “With bullies. It’s the ones like us, that don’t punch back, that get picked on the most, you know? They rub your nose in it just a little bit more.” Bob sighed. “I don’t know why they do that. Maybe it makes them feel powerful. I don’t know.” He turned back to Joyce with renewed vigor. “But hey, look at me now. I get to date Joyce Byers. Ha!” He smiled. “See, it all works out in the end. Doesn’t it?”

Joyce smiled back. “Yes it does.” And though Bob might not have intended for his words to be taken as such, she found herself applying them to the situation at hand.

It would all work out in the end.


	4. The Pollywog, Part Two

“Grass, crops, trees,” Hopper outlined, gesturing at the map he brought along with him, “Everything within a radius of three miles is either dead or dying. And it all comes back to here.” He tapped at the centerpoint on the map.

Sam Owens, the current head of the Hawkins lab, leaned lazily on his arm.

“See, these patterns here are really pretty.” Owens tapped the circles. “I really like the design. It’s almost psychedelic.”

Hopper gritted his teeth. “This is a joke to you, isn’t it?”

“No,” Owens replied, “It’s not a joke. I just don’t understand what this has to do with me, Chief.” He turned to Hopper.

“What it has to do with you, is the giant portal to Hell you’re keeping in your basement.” Hopper replied. “Whatever that… _thing_ is, it’s spreading.” The cop angrily replied. “Out from this lab.”

“That’s impossible.” Owens shook his head. “The last burn was two days ago.” The doctor squeezed his stress ball. “It’s contained.”

“What if there’s a leak?” Hopper proposed.

Owens looked at Hopper with incredulity. “A leak?”

“I don’t know, man!” Hopper raised his voice. “You’re the scientist!”

“Exactly.” Owens chuckled. “And I’m telling ya,” He slid the paper back over to Hopper, “There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Convince me.” Hopper ordered.

“Convince you?” Owens repeated.

“Yeah,” Hopper got up from his chair, into Owens’s face, “You and your egghead friends go out to every area on this map, and run your tests, or whatever the hell it is you do, and see what comes up.”

“Alright, so…” Owens chuckled. “You’re giving _me_ orders now? No.”

“I keep things quiet for you,” Hopper began, a dangerous tone in his voice. “And you keep your weird shit out of my town. I’ve held up my end, now it’s your turn.” Hopper leaned in. “Look, I got about a dozen constantly breathing down my back about this. So I am _asking_ you… Convince me.”

Owens sighed, rubbing away an oncoming headache. “Okay… I can gather up a few men.”

“That’s all I’m asking for.” Hopper responded, finally moving to exit.

“But Chief,” Owens said to Hopper’s receding form, “If nothing comes of this, it’s your tax dollars going to waste.”

Hopper didn’t reply.

Owens began squeezing his stress ball again and flopped down in his chair.

That’s all the lab was, in Owens’s honest opinion. One headache after another.

Owens picked up the phone on his desk and began making some calls.

****

Joyce pulled up to her house and speedwalked inside, intent on viewing the tape to see just who the hell had made the colossal mistake of messing with her son.

Joyce immediately went for Bob’s camera, placed safely on the dresser in her room. She pulled out the tape, and went straight for the living room, trying to place the tape in the VCR. Joyce fumbled with it, trying over and over to get the thing to play.

Needless to say, it didn’t work.

Joyce, already fed up with the tech, decided to call Bob.

The man spouted something about coaxial cables and video ins and outs and honestly, it was all Greek to her. But in the end, she got it to work, and the TV screen flickered to life, as she hit play on the tape.

 _“So you hit T to zoom in,”_ The Bob, decked out in full Dracula costume, on the tape instructed. _“And W zooms back out. See? Easy peasy.”_

Joyce frowned. She was too early on the tape. She pressed the button to fast forward and watched as the events of the night sped past. A little after John, El, and a redhead child Joyce had never seen before joined the group, the video showed the group turning down another street, and the camera fell to the ground.

Joyce hit pause and started rewinding. A few seconds out from where the camera was dropped, she hit play.

 _“Watch it!”_ A boy in a werewolf mask growled.

 _“Trick-or-treat, freak!”_ One in a Jason Vorhees inspired costume shouted.

Joyce frowned. Was this what Bob meant when he said that Will was being picked on? Sure, it wasn’t very nice, but it was rather tame. And given that they were in costumes inspired by serial killers and monsters, she wasn’t surprised some of them decided to indulge.

 _“Boo!”_ One in clown getup shouted, and the camera fell to the ground, angled towards the sky. The boy laughed. _“Loser!”_

Okay, that was too far. She was aware Will wasn’t in with the popular crowds, but no one called her son a loser and got away with it.

 _“Mike?”_ The Will on the screen called out with terror. It seemed that he got separated from the others _._ Joyce’s heart ached with sympathy. This must’ve been when Will had his panic attack. _“Lucas? Dustin? El? John?”_

Will walked in front of the camera, and the whole thing began to flicker as he began to hyperventilate.

“What in the…” Joyce said to herself, as she noticed a very odd distortion pattern on the screen. It looked like a spiderweb, or cracked glass, and flickered like television static. It happened sometimes, distortion, it was just an artifact of the medium, she supposed. But after she rewound the tape again, she frowned.

Distortions did not repeat in the exact same manner each time.

Joyce hit the button to pause the video, as the distortion occurred again. She peered closer to the screen, and a rising sense of unease grew within her. It almost looked like…

Joyce went for a sheet of baking paper, clear enough to see the screen through. She grabbed a crayon from Will’s art supplies and ran back to the TV.

Holding the sheet of paper onto the screen, Joyce began to scribble frantically inside the lines of the distortion. Once she was done, Joyce took a look at what she had produced, and the terror only grew, even as she ran back into the kitchen, to the table where Will’s earlier drawing sat.

The head, the number of arms, even the way the thing was hunched over, looking down.

It was an exact match to Will’s earlier drawing.

Joyce fought herself as she began to seize up with fear. If the camera had been able to pick it up…

Will wasn’t experiencing waking nightmares at all.

The monster was real.

Just like the one from last year.

Joyce ran back outside to her car and got into it with all haste.

She needed to get to Will, ASAP.

****

The bell rung for the final time that day, and everyone sighed as they were finally able to leave.

Well, save for the boys and Max. As soon as the final class for the day let out, they all made a beeline for AV club.

“Ugh,” Max sighed, “What’s taking them so long?”

“We didn’t tell them where we wanted to meet them.” Lucas pointed out.

“So what?” Max began, pacing back and forth in the AV room. “We’re supposed to just wait here until they show up?”

“Yep.” Dustin replied, cooing over Dart as they waited.

“Right.” Max nodded. “And who is they?”

“Well, there’s John and El.” Mike explained. “You met them last night.”

“Big Green and the ghost?” Max questioned.

“Yep.” Will nodded. “And their plus one.”

“And who’s that?”

The boys all looked at each other.

“We…” Lucas began. “Don’t know if it’s a good idea to talk about her.”

Max frowned. “Well, I guess I’ll get to meet her when she shows up.”

“No!” Mike yelped, causing everyone else to jump.

“What?” Max asked. “Why not?”

“She has…” Will began.

“Dementia.” Dustin snapped his fingers. “And she gets really bad mood swings. It gets worse around people she doesn’t know.”

“Dementia?” Max repeated.

A sudden knock came from the AV club door, and everyone whipped around to face it.

They all froze up, worried that someone had caught them.

The knock happened again.

“Will,” Dustin shoved him forward, “You’re up buddy.”

Will shot a look back at Dustin, even as he moved forward. Will reached out, and pulled the door open quickly.

On the other side was John and El, the SPARTAN’s hand raised to knock again.

“Sorry we’re late.” John apologized, as Will stepped aside to let them enter. “You didn’t specify a location.”

“Told you.” Lucas stated.

Max frowned, as she looked on the arrivals. El was dressed like any normal kid, save for the layer of camouflage facepaint she had on. John, however, was still clad in his armor. “You’re still wearing your Halloween costume?”

“In a manner of speaking.” John and El stepped into the room as the door slammed shut. The SPARTAN’s face was unreadable behind his helmet as he looked from Max to the Boys. “Is she trustworthy?”

“Trustworthy?” Max repeated with visible and audible confusion. “What?”

The boys ignored her.

“I think so.” Dustin said.

“I agree.” Lucas gestured to Dustin.

John turned to Mike. “…Her brother’s kind of a douchebag, I hear.” The boy said.

Last up was Will.

“She hasn’t done anything to make it seem she isn’t.” Will vouched.

John turned back to Max. Despite the fact that his face was concealed, Max got the distinct impression that he was looking her dead in the eye.

“What you see here does not get discussed outside this group of people,” John outlined, “Clear?”

“…Okay.” Max said slowly with bewilderment. “But I don’t understand what all the fuss is.”

John reached up to the back of his helmet and pulled Cortana out of the suit. He placed the chip down on the table, and the AI flickered to life over it, looking around the room.

“Boy this place is a dump.” Cortana remarked, taking in the disheveled state of the room. She turned around, finally registering Max’s presence. “Oh. I didn’t see you there. What’s up?”

Max stared down, unblinking.

“Dude,” Dustin spoke up, “I think you broke her.”

Max shook off her bewilderment and looked to Dustin. “Is this… Dementia Lady?”

Cortana turned to Dustin with a ‘really?’ look. “Dementia Lady?” Cortana repeated. “What other things have you been saying about me behind my back?”

Dustin looked like he had the fear of God put into him. “Nothing!” He held up his hands. “I swear!”

“Max, this is Cortana.” Mike gestured down. “She’s an AI… from the future.”

“I’m sorry.” Max held up her hands. “I’m gonna need a minute to process this.” She said, going to sit down in a chair out of the way.

“Right, well,” Cortana shifted, “You called us here for a reason. I’d like to get on with it _before_ the heat death of the universe.”

“Alright,” Dustin began, fishing his ghost trap out of his bag, “So, the big thing you need to know is that I found this in my trash last night.”

“Dustin, if this is some big prank to get me to look at a piece of garbage, I will beat you-“

“Ew, no!” Dustin grimaced. He shook his head and continued. “Just… Take a look.” Dustin said, opening his ghost trap, so the creature inside could be placed on the table.

“…What the hell?” Cortana questioned, looking at the creature. Her scale allowed her to get closer to it, and the AI looked on curiously, even as the creature recoiled back from her.

“I’m guessing by your reaction that you don’t know what it is.” Mike assumed.

“No,” Cortana shook her head, still trying to get a closer look, “It’s like… nothing I’ve ever seen.”

John turned to Dustin. “What is it?”

“At first we thought it was some kind of pollywog.” Dustin explained. “Which is-“

“Another word for tadpole.” Cortana cut him off. “But there are only a few kinds of pollywogs that can survive on land. And none like this. Where did you say it came from?”

Dustin shrugged. “I have no clue.” He admitted. “I just found it in my trash.”

El stared at it uneasily. “…Upside Down.”

Everyone that understood the meaning of that phrase looked upon her with fear (in the boys’ case), confusion (in Max’s case) and expectance (in John and Cortana’s case).

“It came from the Upside Down.” El stated with finality.

“Upside Down?” Max repeated. “What?”

“All you need to know for now is that it’s a sort of alternate dimension.” Cortana explained. “Get Mike to explain in more detail, he’s good with stories. But El,” Cortana turned back to the girl, “How do you know?”

“Can feel it.” El explained. “Like I can around Will.”

Everyone’s heads turned to Will and the boy shrunk.

“Will’s body is completely saturated by the same energy the Demogorgon’s portals were made of.” Cortana explained. “We aren’t sure if it’s from close proximity to one while it opened or something else, however.”

“Something else…” It dawned on Mike. “Will, your episodes. What if they aren’t episodes at all? What if you’re actually flashing into the Upside Down?”

Will balked at the idea of it. “But if they’re real then… then…”

“Then what?” Lucas inquired.

“Monster.” El said.

“Monster!” Dustin repeated. “Like the Demogorgon!?”

“No,” Will shook his head, “More like a big shadow.”

“Well, that’s great and all,” Cortana stated, “But that doesn’t tell us what this thing is or why it’s here. Hold on for a second while I do a scan.”

“You can do that outside of his armor?” Mike questioned.

“It’s called Wi-Fi kid.” Cortana responded. “Just you wait, you’re gonna love it.” Cortana closed her eyes and focused, the rest of the children becoming silent in response. “Hold on a second… This looks familiar.” Cortana’s eyes snapped open, and she began glitching, flashing between her normal blue, red, and green in a panic. _“Get that damn_ thing _away from me!”_

“Whoa, whoa!” Dustin shouted, pulling the angrily chittering Dart away from the AI. “What is it?”

 _“You don’t understand, that thing is evil!”_ Cortana spat. _“It’ll kill every last one of us given the chance!”_

“But it’s just a…” Lucas searched. “A grub.”

 _“A grub with one of the evilest intelligences in the galaxy pulling its strings!”_ She flickered green. _“I was scanning it, but something else was looking back out, scanning me!”_

“Cortana, calm down.” John gently instructed, though the AI still continued to glitch. “You’re experiencing another episode.”

 _“This is no episode. It used the sensor sweep to establish a connection.”_ The AI denied, though the echoing voice of the legion that replaced her normal one begged to differ. _“It only made contact for a second, but that was all the time it needed…”_

All of the children shifted uncomfortably.

“Cortana, you’re scaring them.” John warned. “You need to calm down.”

 _“I can’t calm down!”_ Cortana responded. She turned to Will, as her image became fragmentary and even more distorted. _“I’m sorry.”_

Will paled. “For what?”

Cortana’s hologram shattered into sparks, and her chip went dark.

“Cortana!” John shot forward, grabbing the chip.

“Guys!” Max pointed at Dart, as the creature began to freak out.

The two sides of Dart’s body, closest to his tail, began to stretch out. Two legs burst through the skin, sending the creature’s strange slime off to the sides.

Dart looked up and screeched, as he ran off of the table, to the door.

“Grab him!” Dustin shouted, diving to the floor.

Dart ran headfirst into the crack underneath the door, and forced his way through, screeching as he contorted.

“After him!” Mike shouted, throwing the door open, charging down the hallway.

John took Cortana’s chip, and placed it back into his helmet. The SPARTAN was about to charge forward, after the creature, but froze in his tracks when a message popped up on his visor.

_‘UNSC AI data storage module. Serial No: CTN 0452-9’_

John’s whole world shattered the moment he read the next line of the message.

_‘NO AI DETECTED’_

She was gone.

_****_

“Split up!” Mike recommended, splitting off down a hallway. “We can cover more ground that way!”

“Right!” Dustin agreed, as he charged down a hallway towards the Library.

“This is crazy!” Max yelled, but she took off towards the gym regardless.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet!” Lucas replied, running outside.

Which left Will alone, looking around with confusion. They had taken all the other directions. Which left him, El, and John standing outside AV club.

The SPARTAN was frozen up, looking down at the chip in his hands.

“I’ll stay with John.” El stated with finality. “Be careful. All of you.”

Will nodded, and took off down one of the hallways, intent on searching the side rooms in case Dart had ducked into one of them.

Will slammed open door after door after door, in all, he estimated his search took a good twenty minutes, before he forced open the door to one of the bathrooms, and he heard it.

The chittering. Will walked uneasily into the bathroom, as Cortana’s final words rang out over and over again in his mind.

Dart couldn’t be that dangerous, could he?

Will walked closer to the source of the chittering and pushed one of the bathroom stalls open.

There Dart was, hiding in a corner by the toilet.

“Guys.” Will pressed down the button on his supercom. “I found him.”

 _“Where is he?”_ Dustin replied.

“In the bathroom by Mr. Salerno’s” Will answered.

 _“Copy that.”_ Mike returned. “ _We’re on our way.”_

Will lowered his supercom to the side, and carefully walked forward. “It’s okay…” He spoke to Dart. “I’m not going to hurt you…”

Dart screeched, and Will ran back, out of the bathroom, dropping his supercom on the way.

Out in the hallway, Will heaved. The way that Dart screeched…

It reminded him of the Demogorgon.

Before the boy could have a chance to ruminate on that, however, things got even worse.

The lights flickered, and the world went dark, the air growing thick and cold.

Will began hyperventilating upon witnessing the fleshy vines, spiderwebbed on the walls and the floor. The white spores hung in the air, completely static, and the sound of shattering glass to his right caught his attention.

The shadow poured in, like a Flood breaking through a dam.

Will turned to run, rounding the corner into the next hallway, as the shadow kept up behind him effortlessly. Will burst his way through the doors and ran out into the open parking lot behind the school.

He hoped, no _prayed,_ that his legs could carry him into the forest.

But as he ran, Will, spurred on by the hope that all of this would just stop, found himself thinking back to Bob’s words to him that morning.

 _“Only this time, I didn’t run.”_ Bob echoed in his mind.

Will slowed to a standstill.

 _“This time, I stood my ground._ ”

Will’s fists clenched in anger, and he turned around, to see the Shadow rising up above the school.

It let out a high-pitched screech as it began to get close.

_“And I yelled at him ‘Go away!’”_

“Go away!” Will shouted, as the Shadow approached.

 _“Join us, Will…”_ A different voice whispered in his mind, more feminine than Bob’s.

“Go away!” Will screamed this time, as a nebulous tendril came crashing down on top of him.

And then, Will began to burn from the inside out.


	5. Facsimile Edition

John stood behind the rest of the children, as they watched Joyce lead Will back to her car.

“Okay, was I the only one freaked out by that?” Max asked. “Because that totally freaked me out.”

“Two episodes in two days…” Lucas shook his head.

“It’s getting worse.” Mike stated, looking upon his receding form with anxiety.

“You think he’s actually flashing back and forth?” Lucas questioned. “Between here and the Upside Down?”

“I don’t know.” Mike admitted. “Either way…” He trailed off. “I’m worried.”

John looked on blankly. For as much as he wanted to be worried about Will, he had just suffered a most devastating loss. He looked down at Cortana’s chip numbly.

Even in her most severe rampant episodes, the shutdown had never lasted this long. Never made his interface show that there was no AI present. She was just… gone.

John wondered if it was his fault. If letting her back into the suit had somehow worsened her condition.

He would never know. Never know if it was his fault. Never know if he could’ve saved her.

It was his job to protect her. And he failed.

El, sensing John’s turmoil, walked up, and tugged on his arm. “Let’s go home.” She looked like she was on the verge of tears herself but kept a brave face for the others.

John abjectly nodded and let her lead him down the stairs away from the school.

“Wait!” Mike called. “What about Will?”

“We’ll check on him tomorrow.” Was all that John replied, as he and El crossed the treeline out of sight.

**i**

“I never got to say goodbye.” John rubbed a thumb over the dead chip, still in his suit, sat down in a couch that was a few pounds away from snapping in half. His helmet lay discarded a few feet nearby, from where John had to get it off before he could begin feeling like he was suffocating.

El sniffled, now that she was out of sight of her friends. “There was so much she did for me… Reading me stories… Teaching me math… listening to me when I needed to talk… I never got to say thank you. John…” El began, the tears falling more freely now. “I know Terry’s my real mama, but… Cortana was my mama too.”

John’s brain nearly short-circuited, and he gave himself whiplash his head whipped over to El so fast. The SPARTAN had trouble finding what to say next. “I’m sure… I’m sure she would’ve been so happy to hear that.”

“You think so?”

John smiled. “It would’ve made her world.”

“What…” El sniffled. “What do we do now? Without her?”

John looked down despondently. “I don’t know.” John admitted. “For now, I think… I think we try to finish what’s been started first. With Will and his episodes.” Truth be told, he didn’t know how he was going to accomplish it without her. Not because he needed her brains, but because he needed her wit, her charm…

He needed _her._ Most of his career he’d been without her, but ever since she entered it, she became a constant he so desperately needed. His sidekick, his companion…

His friend.

“Do you…” El began fearfully. “Do you think it hurt?”

John looked away. “I hope not.” John looked back over to El.

“John…” El began, “Is it alright if I go to bed early?”

“It’s almost time for dinner.”

El stared at the floor. “It’s okay… I’m not hungry.”

John nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Go ahead.” He granted. “But if you need me, you know where I’m at.”

El nodded, and gave the SPARTAN a hug, going off to her room.

John sighed, and not even bothering trying to remove his armor, went back into his room, and laid down as carefully as he could on his bed.

As the two went to sleep that night, there was a deafening silence from the living room.

The TV was off.

****

Will dreamt that night.

To all the rest of the world, he night as well have been dead, his form was so still.

But any who looked on would’ve seen his eyes darting back and forth even though they were closed, at a rate not like regular sleep.

He was experiencing a nightmare, unlike any other. Because it wasn’t a nightmare.

Because even though Will’s body was asleep, he was still perfectly aware of everything around him. Even more so, he was aware of his own mind.

It was here with him, and It wanted something.

Information. About weapons, defenses, locations of strategic importance…

Information about Earth.

Will tried to hold it off the best that he could, for no other reason than to spite it, as it was the root cause of his episodes. Now that he was in here with it, Will was going to do his damn best to keep it out of his own head.

 _“Let us in, child…”_ It whispered to Will with his own voice. _“We only want what you know…”_

“You’re not getting it…” Will stood his ground, though he was scared out of his wits, and It seemed to register that.

 _“We have no wish to harm you…_ ” It replied. _“We only want to be let in… We are a timeless chorus, join your voice with ours, and we can sing victory everlasting…”_

Will didn’t reply, trying to stay as calm as possible, even as he could _feel_ It rooting around inside his mind. It was looking for something, prying open every last one of his memories and thoughts, as It tore Will apart from the inside out searching for Its prize.

An idea came to Will. It wanted information? He would give It information. Will began to think about John, clad in his armor, beating the Demogorgon to death that almost one year ago.

When It recoiled in surprise, Will began to feel victorious.

Until It responded by subjecting Will to the worst pain he had ever experienced.

He woke up the next morning in a sweat, feeling like he was on the surface of the sun.

****

John and El stepped up to the open door of the Byers household, knocking for entry. Joyce came running into the living room, and sighed with disappointment when she saw them

“I thought you were Hopper.” Joyce explained, stepping aside to let them in anyway. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with him all morning.”

“He hasn’t responded?” John frowned beneath his helmet.

“No.” Joyce shook her head anxiously. “And I’ve got to tell you, I’m freaking out here. Will’s temperature is cold, and he’s walking around like a zombie…” She whispered that last part.

“Relax.” John gently commanded. He turned to El. “Go find Will, keep him company while Joyce and I talk.”

El nodded without a word and took off down the hallway to Will’s room.

“Now,” John began, turning back to Joyce. “I need you to tell me what happened after you left the school yesterday.”

“Well,” Joyce swallowed, “We got home, and I asked Will what he could remember from his episode. I couldn’t get him to talk, until I showed him this.” She walked into the kitchen and came back out with a sheet of baking paper, handing it over to the SPARTAN.

“A drawing?” The SPARTAN questioned, looking down at it.

“Halloween night, after Will dropped the camera, it kept recording.” Joyce explained. “There was this really weird pattern on the tape, so I got that and filled in the lines. John,” Joyce placed another sheet of paper in his other hand, “It matches this one. Will drew it after one of his first episodes.”

John looked down at the two with growing unease. “Then it’s as bad as we thought.” He remarked, looking up from the drawings at Joyce.

The sound of an engine grew louder as it approached, and the two’s heads whipped around to see Hopper’s Blazer pulling up. The man got out and walked inside, looking curiously at the wide-open door.

“Where the hell have you been?” Joyce demanded, as Hopper stepped inside.

“Sorry…” Hopper slowly said as he entered. “I got caught up. It’s freezing in here.” He moved to close the door.

“Leave it open.” Joyce commanded. “Come on,” She ushered them both down the hallway.

She pushed the door into Will’s room open, and they slowly entered. El was standing in the corner, looking at Will with worry. The boy himself was on his bed, wearing only his pajama pants, facing the wide-open window

“Knock knock,” Joyce said as they entered, “We have a visitor…”

Will slowly turned around, as if the act of moving itself was too much exertion, to see them. “Hey guys.”

John handed the drawings back to Joyce, and walked over to El. “What is it?” He softly inquired, as the others got to talking to Will.

“It’s Will…” El swallowed. “Something’s wrong. It’s like… He’s different somehow. Off. Like… eating after brushing your teeth. You can still taste what the food’s supposed to be, but there’s something else there that shouldn’t be. And it’s getting stronger.”

John looked to Will cautiously. Hopper and Joyce were beginning to talk to him, the conversation loud enough for both of them to pick up on the details. The two went quiet, listening on the other conversation.

“So,” Hopper began, looking from the drawings to Will. “This Shadow Monster, you said it likes it like this? It likes it cold?”

Will nodded slightly. “Yeah.”

“And how do you know that?” Hopper inquired.

Will shrugged. “I just… do.”

Hopper frowned. “Does it talk to you?”

“No.” Will shook his head. “It’s like I don’t have to think. I just know things now.”

Hopper got up and sat across from Will. “And… what else do you know?”

“It’s hard to explain, it’s like…” Will stuttered. “Old memories at the back of my head. They don’t come up until something triggers them. And they’re not _mine_. They’re more like… now-memories.”

“Okay…” Hopper nodded. “Can you describe these now-memories for me?”

“I don’t know.” Will admitted. “It’s hard to explain.”

“I know…” Joyce placed a hand on his shoulder. “But can you try? For us?”

“It’s like… they’re growing.” Will forced out. “Spreading. Infecting. Infesting… killing.”

“The memories?” Joyce questioned.

Will shook his head. “I don’t know.” Will cried. “There’s one word that keeps repeating itself in my mind. A woman… she’s screaming.”

John stepped forward, crouching down in front of Will. “Screaming?” John repeated. “Screaming what?”

“Flood.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How many of you saw that one coming?


	6. Will the Wise

In the space of about five minutes, the whole situation went from bad to fucked up beyond all recognition. Cortana was dead, this Shadow Monster finally got ahold of Will, and to top it all off with a neat little cherry, the Flood were involved somehow.

“I don’t understand.” Joyce said, her, El, Hopper, and the SPARTAN sequestered away in the kitchen, while Will and El sat in his room, drawing.

John fiddled with his pistol, taking care to keep it pointed away from the others. Anyone that knew the SPARTAN to the degree that his brothers and sisters did would be able to tell that he was nervous.

“Yeah…” Hopper concurred, pointing at Joyce with a cigarette in hand. “What’s so important about this… Flood?”

“It’s a parasite.” John answered, shifting on his feet. “Capable of infecting anything. Plants, animals, people… At Christmas last year, you and Joyce overheard Cortana’s comment about me saving the galaxy.” John reminded. “That’s what I was saving it from. If one spore hits a major population center… It could bring the planet to its knees in hours.” John outlined. “Of course, it may not even be the Flood that’s got a hold of him. But the fact that he brought it up… they’re involved somehow, I just can’t say in what way.” John sighed. “Cortana would know.”

John jittered uncomfortably. All of that trouble, all of those lives lost, the hell that Cortana went through… Only to learn that the Flood were active, in a time when an outbreak would mean certain doom for every last thing on the planet.

“So, what do we do?” Hopper questioned.

“We need to find someplace to help Will.” John said. “There may be a way to get whatever it is out of him, but we don’t have any medical equipment here to diagnose the problem.”

“Can we even _take_ him to a doctor?” Joyce searched. “Would they know how to fix it?”

The room fell silent for a few moments.

“There might be a place.”

** I̴̳͉͖͛̍̐̔ **

Mike huffed, as he placed the phone back on the hook, and began walking back over to the entrance to the school.

“Nothing?” Dustin inquired as Mike approached.

“Nothing.” Mike confirmed.

“I’m getting nothing from John or El either.” Lucas said, tucking his supercom into his backpack.

Max frowned. “What do you think’s going on?”

Mike sighed and shook his head. “Who even knows anymore.” Mike rested his head in his hand, and he began thinking. “Will said he was flashing back and forth, and he was seeing that monster… What if it got to him, this time?”

“Yeah, but,” Dustin began, “When we found him out in the field, he was just standing there, but we could still touch him, even if he didn’t respond. If he was on the other side, physically, then shouldn’t we have gone right through him?”

Mike sighed. “Maybe. We just don’t know enough about what’s going on.”

“So, what do we do?” Lucas inquired.

“We acquire more knowledge.” Mike stood up. “Max and I will go to Will’s after school,”

“Hold on,” Lucas held up a hand, “Why does she get to go with you?”

“Because you two would be too busy trying to flirt with her to get anything done.” Mike responded, which caused Max to let out a snort. “Besides, someone needs to stay here and find Dart.”

“Dart?” Dustin frowned. “What’s he got to do with this?”

“Am I the only one that noticed that Will’s episode happened while he was nearby Dart?” Mike questioned. “Besides, Cortana said he was evil. I don’t know how yet, but he’s got to be connected to all of this. If we find him… maybe, we can figure out how to stop all this. Maybe we can help Will.”

Dustin pressed his lips into a line and nodded. That’s who they were doing this for. Will. He needed them, now more than ever.

** ä̵̢̨̢̰̟̮̪̗̯̟͔͓͈́̈́͆͂̃̈́ͅͅm̴̦̖̪͔̀͋̃̉̋̊̓̿̽̚̕̚͝ͅ **

El shifted on her legs, unable to look at Will as the dark presence in his mind took hold. The boy scribbled frantically on a sheet of paper, drawing two lines on either side of the sheet.

“Will?” El frowned. “What are you drawing?”

“I don’t know.” Will responded. “But it feels… it feels like my head is going to explode if I don’t get this written down.” He finished scribbling, placing the sheet on top of a stack of other, similar drawings. He took another sheet of paper from the blank stack and started scribbling on it.

El walked around Will’s room curiously, taking in the items that Will had strewn about. She picked up a Rubik’s Cube, taking note of the scattered colors on each face, and twisted it experimentally. She tilted her head, unsure of the purpose of it, and sat it back down where she found it.

El stepped over to Will’s closet, and pushed the door open, looking curiously at the items inside.

“Flower.” El stated, pointing at the fake rose in the jacket.

Will’s head whipped around. “Oh, that.” He said, somehow still scribbling even though he wasn’t facing the paper. “That’s my tuxedo. You’re supposed to wear it to formal events, you know? Like funerals, weddings, fancy dress parties… I don’t wear it much though. The only time it really gets used is the Snow Ball.”

El tilted her head. “Snowball? You wear that during snowball fights?”

Will chuckled and shook his head, turning back to his drawing. “No… It’s a dance we have at school every year. Kind of like how high school has prom, but ours is a holiday thing.”

“Dance.” El repeated. She suddenly nodded in comprehension. “Like Saturday Night Fever.”

Will bit back a laugh. “No, no, it’s more like slow dancing.”

“Slow dancing?” El frowned. “Why would they make you dance slow?”

“Slow dancing isn’t just dancing slowly.” Will began, “It’s something done between two people. Um… good friends, family, or… people that like each other.”

El nodded. “And you do this at the Snow Ball?”

“Yeah.” Will confirmed.

“So if you have to have two people,” El began, “Who are you going to dance with?”

“I haven’t really thought about it.” Will admitted. “It’s still a while before the actual dance. It doesn’t happen until the last day before Christmas Break… If worst comes to worst, Mike and I would be left on our own.”

“Mike?” El tilted her head. “Why would Mike be left on his own?”

“Well, he doesn’t have eyes for anyone but…” Will trailed off. “There’s this girl he met last year, and he and I both kind of have crushes on her.”

“Crush?” El was taken aback. “Why would you want to crush her?”

“No, no,” Will shook his head. “We _have_ crushes. It means we like her, but we can’t work up the courage to say anything.”

“Oh.” El comprehended. “So, what’s the problem?”

“Well,” Will grimaced, “He and I came to an agreement. He doesn’t go to ask her, and neither do I. It’d put her in a position that’s… not good, and she picks one of us over the other, it could hurt our feelings.”

“Hmm…” El frowned. “How about all three of you go together?” She suggested.

Will raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”

“You said slow dancing needs at least two people. So take three.” El outlined. “That way you won’t be alone, Mike won’t be alone, and she won’t be alone, and you all can dance.”

Will smiled sadly down at the paper and shook his head. “It’s a nice thought… But I don’t think it’ll work out that way.”

“You won’t know unless you ask her, Will.”

“Tell you what,” Will leveled, “We get through this first, and then I’ll ask her.”

El nodded with approval. “Good man.”

** ṣ̸͍͌͌̔͑̍̉͌͗̔̇͊t̸̝̺͉̜̥̙͙̞̬̗̪̎̓͊̄̄̈́͜ͅi̸̙̫̮̙͕̹̩͍͓̯̊l̷̡͛͗̉͊͗͌̀̀l̵͚̹̠̺̺̬͌̈́ **

Nancy sat next to Jonathan, anxiously tapping her leg up and down as they waited. What were they waiting for? It was anyone’s guess with these people. The white tile walls, the one-way glass, and the pasty green fluorescent lights filled her with unease, and Jonathan’s expression was unreadable as he stared down at the table.

The trap they set had worked. Just a single call to Mrs. Holland, a little bit of panic in her voice, and acting shiftily in the park itself, and they had a first-class escort into the lab.

Of course, now it was a waiting game. They knew the people in charge weren’t going to harm them, but that still didn’t alleviate their fears.

Finally, it got just a bit too much for Nancy, and she got up, staring up at the camera with contempt. “Hey assholes! Let us out of here!” She demanded.

The door on the end of the room opened up instantly, and Nancy whipped around to it.

 _‘Huh. I can’t believe that actually worked.’_ Nancy thought to herself.

“Oh!” The scientist said as he entered. Dr. Owens, if his name tag was to be trusted. “Not very pleasant in here, is it?” He sardonically commented. “Sorry about that. Hospitality’s not our strong suit. Scientists.” He chuckled. He caught Nancy’s ticked-off look, and all traces of mirth left Owens’s face. “Yeah, okay,” Owens checked his watch. “You up for a little walk?” He didn’t wait for them to answer as he began to exit the room. “I’m assuming you’re behind me.” Owens stated.

Nancy and Jonathan shot a look at each other and moved to follow quickly.

“’Men of science have made abundant mistakes of every kind.’” Owens quoted to them, as they rounded the corner into the hall. “George Sarton said that. You guys know who George Sarton is?” He inquired, but then waved off a second later. “Doesn’t matter. The point is, mistakes have been made, yes.”

“Mistakes?” Nancy repeated, raising her voice.

“Yes.” Owens nodded.

“You killed Barbara!”

“Abundant mistakes, but,” Owens amended, “The men involved with those mistakes, the ones truly responsible for Miss Holland’s unfortunate death, are long gone. They’re long gone, and for better or for worse, I’m the poor shmuck that got stuck cleaning it up.” He explained, leading them past a lab with people running what looked to be soil samples. “I want to clean it up. Trust me, I do, but I can’t do that, not without your cooperation.”

“You mean not without shutting up?” Nancy caught the meaning.

Owens sighed and turned to Jonathan, as they turned another corner. “She’s a tough nut to crack this one, you been together long?”

“We’re not together.” Jonathan replied.

“You want to see what _really_ killed your friend?” Owens asked, leading them through a plate metal door in the wall. “Teddy,” Owens addressed, walking into the dark room. “I brought you an audience today. I hope you don’t mind.”

The room was filled with control panels, computer banks, and machines that Nancy could only guess the purpose of. The scientists inside sat at their workstations diligently, as a man in the center was outfitted with a fire-resistant suit and flamethrower.

“The more the merrier, sir.” Teddy responded to Owens, as the door shut behind them.

Owens ushered the two teens over to a glass pane.

Nancy and Jonathan looked on through the glass, with equal parts awe and fear, at the giant gaping hole in the wall. Pulsating an angry red, and growling as though it were alive.

“It looks like a vagina.” Jonathan remarked causing Owens to let out a genuine belly-laugh.

“Yeah, that’s one way to describe it.” Owens chuckled, it slowly dying down as his mood sobered. “But me… I’d call it one hell of a mistake. Wouldn’t you? See,” Owens stepped closer to the glass, as the man in the fire-resistant suit stepped into the airlock, going through the cycling sequence, “We can’t seem to erase our mistake. But we _can,”_ Owens was quick to emphasize, “stop it from spreading.”

Jonathan looked to Owens, curious at what the man meant.

“It’s like…” Owens searched. “Pulling weeds. But imagine for a moment if a foreign state, let’s say the Soviets…” Owens proposed. “What if they learned about our mistake? They might try to take advantage of it. _Or…_ they might not think it’s such a mistake and try to replicate it themselves.”

The man in the fire-resistant suit approached the tear and set upon it with his flamethrower, burning the fleshy vines that grew out from the thing like an infestation.

“The more attention we bring to ourselves,” Owens continued, as the heat could be felt even by those behind the glass, “The more people like the Hollands know the truth, the more likely that scenario becomes. So you see the position I’m in?” Owens questioned, looking them in the eyes. “I need to keep as many people as safe as I possibly can. And in some cases, this one included, that means stopping the truth from spreading. Just like those weeds there.” He gestured.

The man with the flamethrower let up, and began walking to the other side to take care of the rest of it. However, just as he was about to pull the trigger, the tear began to pulsate more rapidly, and the lights in the place went berserk.

“What’s happening?” Owens demanded, turning to face another scientist.

“I don’t know sir, but it looks like…” The scientist frowned. “It’s like something’s coming through.”

“Get him out of there.” Owens ordered. “Get him out of there!” He repeated, sending the room into a flurry of action.

The man with the flamethrower sprinted back into the airlock, as the tear began to pulsate ever more intensely. The sequence completed just as the tear squelched, and something fell out of the center.

Or rather, someone. A woman, that much was obvious given that she was entirely nude.

“What the hell…?” Owens questioned, as the equipment in the room went calm.

“It’s… a woman?” Nancy stared.

“It would seem so.”

** h̶̡̛̰͎̮͔͐̈́̈́̑͑̂͂͊̔͆̕͝e̵̔̊͜r̶̨̥̟͎͍̣͕͍̓̽͐̔̌̋̊͂̈́͘̕̚͝͝ę̷̖̖̗͍̻̩̦͌͐͊ **

“It’s just more of the same.” Joyce sighed frustratedly, sitting another stack of papers on the table. Any attempts to draw meaning from Will’s anxious drawings were being met with failure.

“More scribbles.” Hopper remarked, flipping through them.

“Does he usually just scribble like this?” John inquired, looking through a few himself.

“No.” Joyce shook her head. “He’s drawn to relieve stress plenty of times before, but he’s never done it like this.”

“It might be a dead end.” Hopper stated.

John, privately, concurred with Hopper’s assumption. But then the SPARTAN noticed something, something criss-crossing the paper that was too deliberate to be an accident.

“The lines.” John pointed out in epiphany. “The lines connect.”

Joyce’s head shot up, and she began looking through the stack she held. “He’s right, Hopper, look.” Joyce tapped two sheets. “He drew them separately; you can tell by the way the lines end.”

“Yeah?” Hopper responded.

“So, why do they connect?”

Hopper finally realized what the two were getting at, and got up from his place on the couch, pushing the coffee table to the other side of the room, leaving a large space in the middle of the floor.

“Come on.” Hopper said, “Let’s see if we can piece these together.” He grabbed a stack, and began throwing them to the floor, lining them up with tape where they were obviously meant to intersect. John and Joyce followed suit, and soon, it began to take shape.

Joyce ran back and forth between Will’s room, transporting the new stacks of drawings, and earning a bewildered look from El in the process.

Soon, a few hours had passed, and the three stood back, looking at the fruits of their labor.

“It looks like a root system.” John remarked. “The way each tendril tapers off at the end.”

“Yeah, kind of.” Hopper agreed, turning to Joyce. “Does this mean anything to you?” He inquired of the woman.

“No.” She shook her head, as they began walking over the massive puzzle. “Is it some sort of maze? Maybe a road? It’s forking and branching, like… lightning.”

Hopper turned to Joyce as he walked into the center of the massive drawing. “Is it that storm he mentioned, do you think?”

“No.” Joyce stuttered. “That one was all sort of red. This is all blue… with that weird dirt color… Maybe you were right John, maybe it’s roots. Cause remember, Will said it was spreading, and-“

“Killing.” Hopper finished, a dawning look on his face. “He said they were killing. Vines.” Hopper ran to grab his coat and hat. “He’s drawing vines.” And he ran out, speeding away in his Blazer with all haste.

John turned to Joyce. “What was that about?”

The woman shrugged. “I don’t know.” She admitted.

“Do you think he’ll require assistance?” John inquired.

“Probably not. All he said was something about vines.” Joyce responded, walking over to the stack of still unused pieces of paper. “Come on, let’s get the rest of these put together. They might give us another clue.”

John nodded, and took a stack and some tape, helping the woman put the rest of them together. Once the space on the floor ran out, the two worked their way up the walls, even onto the ceiling in with some of them.

“So… John.” Joyce began, taping the drawings up. “Earlier you mentioned saving the galaxy from that parasite… You never did say why you think it’s involved.”

John kept quiet for a moment, as he worked on his side. “The Flood may be a parasite, but there’s a controlling intelligence behind it. Cortana… she called it the Gravemind. Everything that the Flood is, every spore, every cell, all of it is directed by the Gravemind’s will. The way Will describes that entity, whatever it is… It reminds me of the Gravemind. The fact that he said there was a voice screaming about the Flood was just another nail in the coffin.”

“But if it is this… Flood,” Joyce swallowed, “If it’s really that, how do we stop them?”

John sighed. “I don’t know.”

“You stopped them before, right?” Joyce asked anxiously.

“I did.” John admitted. “Several times. But not without cost. The first time we encountered them, I destroyed a planet-sized ringworld to keep them from getting loose into the wider galaxy, but out of a starship with a crew of almost three thousand, only Cortana, myself, another marine, and my sister survived.”

“Oh my God…” Joyce breathed.

“The second time, I didn’t even really stop them, I just escaped while they infected everything else around me. I got out, but…” John swallowed. “I had to leave Cortana behind. And again, nearly every single other human that came along was infected, save for me, the Commander, and the same marine from before. And the third time…”

“What happened the third time?” Joyce questioned.

“I don’t know.” John admitted. “Cortana had a plan, but that was just before we showed up here. There’s no way to know if it worked or not.”

“So, you’re saying there’s… nothing we can do?” Joyce asked fearfully.

John turned around and approached the woman. “Joyce,” He began, placing a steadying hand on her shoulder, “I promise you that no matter what happens, no matter how difficult things get, I won’t let anything happen to you, to your boys, or to any of the other children. You have my word.”

Joyce smiled slightly. “Thank you, John.”

Though as he got back to work, he couldn’t deny that his own words sounded hollow even to him. He couldn’t protect Cortana, even though she was arguably less maintenance than the children were. How could he be expected to protect them? John sighed, shaking his head. It didn’t matter, he would try his damndest either way.

“You’re very welcome.” John nodded. “Let’s get back to work.”

The two went back to hanging up the sheets of paper, El bringing them more as they worked on the wood pulp tapestry, but the two were pulled out of their rhythm when a knock came from the front of the house.

“I’ve got it.” Joyce said, running to answer the door. She stepped outside, coming face to face with Mike, and a redhead girl she’d never seen outside of the Halloween tape. Max, if Joyce’s memory was correct.

“Is Will here?” Mike frantically demanded, sounding out of breath.

“You know what?” Joyce looked back to the house. “Now is not a really good time.”

“Is he okay?” Mike questioned.

Joyce sighed. “Yeah, you know... He’s just not feeling real well. He’s laying down, so I’ll tell him you two stopped by, okay?” She moved to go back inside.

“It’s about the shadow monster… isn’t it?” Mike questioned.

Joyce froze in her tracks and turned around to face Mike. “How do you know about that?”

“He told us.” Mike explained.

“Yeah.” Max agreed. “But it all still sounds… pretty insane if you ask me.”

Joyce looked between the two of them, and sighed. “Alright, come on. But be careful, he’s kind of… not in a good place right now.” She warned, allowing the children entry.

The moment the two crossed the threshold into the living room, both froze in absolute astonishment.

“What kind of art project from hell…?” Max questioned.

“Will’s been drawing these up for the past few hours.” Joyce explained. “He’s back in his room, if you want to talk to him.”

“Right,” Mike nodded, “Thanks.” And he took off down the hallway.

John turned to look at the redhead for a moment, before going back to work. “Didn’t expect to see you with him, Max.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The girl questioned.

“Nothing.” John answered. “I figured that Lucas or Dustin would’ve tried to pull you away.”

“They tried.” Max admitted. “But he figured that they would’ve been too busy trying to flirt with me to get any actual work done.”

“Well,” John allowed a very small chuckle to escape him, “At least one of them can keep a level head.”

“Right.” Max agreed. “They’re not bad though. Some of the few decent people I’ve met since moving to this godforsaken town.”

“Oh,” John turned to her, “You just move in?”

“Yeah.” Max nodded.

A door slamming came from down the hallway, and El emerged, looking utterly befuddled.

“What’s wrong?” John questioned.

“I don’t know.” El responded. “Mike came into Will’s room and he saw Will shirtless, and then he saw me hugging Will because he was scared, and then Mike got all red in the face… Did I do something wrong?”

Max, from where she stood, looked like she was about to explode into laughter.

“No, you didn’t.” John responded. “That’s just boys being boys.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“I’ll explain when you’re older.”

** ̷͇͍͖̖̞̪͚̟̳͛̋̑͒J̶͕̲̰̱͔̗͚͓̖̘̜̓̔͑̕͜ͅơ̸̧̥̠͈̰̦͔̫̿͛̂͌̈́̈́̎͑̽̕̕͠ẖ̸̨̖̮̦͇̍ͅn̵̢̻̠̘̣͙͖͔͕̟̓̈́̇̽͂͋̐̀͐̃̈͑͛͜**

“It’s like…” Will explained to Mike, the other boy pacing about the room. “I feel what the shadow monster’s feeling. See what he’s seeing.” The boy was dripping sweat, like he just got done running track, and Mike could only look on in concern, as Will sounded terrified.

“Like in the Upside Down?” Mike questioned, running a hand along the drawings on the walls.

Will nodded minutely. “Some of him is there.” He confirmed. “But some of him is here too.”

“Here,” Mike began to look around warily, “In the house?”

“In the house…” Will choked out. “And in _me._ It’s like he’s… reaching into Hawkins more and more. And the more he spreads, the more I feel… And the voice, just keeps getting louder… She won’t stop screaming.”

“Voice?” Mike frowned. “You didn’t say anything about the voice.”

“It sounds like Cortana.” Will sniffled. “She was in his grasp for only a second, but I can still hear her, feel her pain… See her as she gets torn apart. I can see him doing it.”

“Like your now-memories.” Mike assumed, and Will nodded.

“At first, it was like they were just in the back of my head.” Will swallowed. “I didn’t even know they were there. It’s like when you have a dream and you can’t remember it unless you think really hard. It was like that, but now… Now I remember.” Will said. “I remember all the time. Things I don’t know, that no human should know…”

Mike sat down next to Will and nodded slowly. “What does El think about it?”

Will gulped. “She’s trying to put on a brave face, but looking at me is starting to hurt her… I can tell.”

Mike nodded again. “Well, maybe…” He began. “Maybe this is a good thing?”

“Good?” Will repeated incredulously.

“Think about it.” Mike said. “You’re like a spy now. A telepathic superspy. If you see what he sees, and feel what he feels… You can tell us what he’s going to do next. Maybe that’s how we can stop him. Maybe all of this,” He gestured at the drawings, “Is happening for a reason.”

Will hiccupped. “You really think so?”

“Yeah.” Mike responded. “Yeah, I do.”

Will jittered nervously, as his head turned to the first drawing he had made. “What if… What if he figures out we’re spying on him? What if he spies back?”

Mike placed a hand on Will’s arm. “He won’t.”

“How do you know?” Will replied.

“We won’t let him.” Mike said determinedly.

And during all of that, Will just stared blankly ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know who that woman is, I know who that woman is, the big mystery is how the hell she's here.


	7. Dig Dug

Sam Owens stood behind the one-way mirror of an observation room, looking in on the mysterious woman that had fallen out of the gate. After the two teenagers had left, he had his teams get the woman into at least a hospital gown and put into containment. Owens wasn’t going to lie, his curiosity was piqued, he wanted to know what the hell she was doing in a place where no other human had survived.

There was one tiny problem, however, the woman had been totally unconscious ever since they found her. Though that wasn’t at a lack of trying to wake her up.

Owens sighed, as another scientist approached him.

“Well?” Owens inquired, taking the clipboard.

“She’s in perfect health.” The doctor answered. “No sign of birth defects, her cholesterol is zero, and there’s no sign of any scars or bruises anywhere on her.”

“Well, that begs the question,” Owens began, “Why isn’t she waking up?”

“That’s a bit more difficult to explain.” The doctor replied. “Her brain isn’t showing any signs of activity.”

“No brain activity?” Owens frowned.

“Yes sir.” The doctor nodded. “Aside from the normal impulses keeping her heart beating and her lungs breathing, there’s… nothing. Save for this.” He handed the scan off to Owens.

Owens frowned. “What did you say these were?”

“Seizures, we think.”

“Seizures?” Owens repeated. “How can she be experiencing seizures if there’s no brain activity?”

“We don’t know.” The scientist answered. “There’s still a lot we don’t know about the human brain. For all we know this could be an extremely rare, but entirely natural thing. Other than that, she’s just… Empty.”

“Keep her under observation.”

****

Will’s eyes shot open, and he sat up with a gasp, breathing anxiously as he looked around the room. Light flooded in, signaling that it was the morning, but that did nothing to quell Will’s fear.

“Will?” Mike asked, sitting up in his sleeping bag. “What’s wrong?”

Will said nothing, as he threw the covers off, and ran out into the rest of the house.

John was in the kitchen, cooking breakfast, as El and Max sat at the table, talking. Joyce was sat down in the middle of the living room floor, staring around at the weave of drawings.

“Do you ever take that suit off?” Max asked of John, the man still clad head-to-toe.

“It’s kind of like a blanket.” El answered for him. “Only it’s in-inde…”

“Indestructible.” John finished for her.

Max frowned at it. “Doesn’t look that tough.”

“I fell from orbit with it once.” John returned. “You’d be surprised.”

Will ignored their idle banter, as he walked over to his mother. “Mom?” He called, trying to get her attention. “Mom?” She just kept looking at the drawing. “Mom.” He finally placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to gasp and turn around.

“Yeah?” Joyce inquired, kind of blankly.

“I saw him.” Will stated.

“Saw who?” Joyce questioned.

“Hopper.” Will answered, swallowing troublingly. “I think he’s in trouble. I think…” Will struggled to breathe. “I think he’s going to die.”

The mood instantly grew heavy.

“Where is he?” John was first to ask.

“I don’t…” Will looked at the lines of paper darting over the walls and floors

“Here.” El said, getting up from the table to hand him a crayon and paper.

The moment the two drawing implements hit his hands, Will got to the floor, and began scribbling, as John now worked to finish the food in the pan with extra haste. Five minutes later, Will finally slowed, handing Joyce the finished drawing?

“This is where you saw him?” Joyce inquired.

“I think so…” Will said uncertainly. However, his look steeled, and he nodded. “Yes.”

Joyce took the paper and began running it over the rest of the drawings, trying to find the matching piece, the rest of them, except Will, following automatically.

“Here!” Mike called.

Joyce came running over and oriented the drawing so that it would overlay the original. Save for the scribbles being slightly different, they were an exact match. “Okay, so, Hopper is here.”

“Which leaves one problem.” Mike commented. “Finding out where _here_ is.”

All of them remained silent for a moment. “Any ideas?” Joyce inquired.

“It looks kind of like tunnels.” Max suggested, and everyone’s heads whipped towards her. “What? Don’t look at me like I’m stupid!”

“No, that was a good suggestion. Problem is, we have no idea where these tunnels are. Which puts us back at square one.” John crossed his arms. “What did Hopper say before he left? Something about vines?”

“Yeah.” Joyce nodded. Suddenly, they could hear a car approaching from the distance. “Hopper.” Joyce breathed with hope, running over to the living room window. She sagged with disappointment slightly but stiffened in anxiety. “Bob?”

“Is he going to be a problem?” John asked.

“No.” Joyce shook her head. “He’s my boyfriend. I just didn’t expect to see him. Stay here,” She ordered them, “I’ll take care of him.”

A few minutes passed, the two adults talking outside, until Joyce finally came back inside. With Bob.

“Whoa…” Bob looked around the massive ink tapestry. “This is…” He struggled as the door shut behind him. “Quite the art project.” He registered John’s presence and looked the SPARTAN up and down. “You’re getting some mileage out of that costume, huh?”

John merely shrugged in response, as Bob went to go look at the ones at the wall.

“Hmm.” Bob turned to face Will. “You drew all of these?” Will nodded. “What for?”

“Oh,” Joyce cut in, “We’re not allowed to ask why… we just need help, figuring out what,” She grabbed a red crayon, and began drawing over the intersection where Hopper was. “This is.”

“That’s the objective.” Mike stated. “Find the X.”

“Oh?” Bob remarked, looking down at it. “What’s there? Pirate treasure?” He chuckled good-naturedly.

Joyce gave a theatrical shrug. “We don’t know. That’s why we need to find it.”

Bob sighed and stood up to full height. He looked to the group, and his eyes landed on Joyce. “Can I talk to you, for a second?”

Joyce looked taken aback. “Yeah, sure.” She nevertheless agreed, pulling him into the room at the back.

“Isn’t he the RadioShack guy?” El asked, once the two were out of earshot.

“So he is.” John responded.

Their attention was taken back to the end of the hallway when Bob came out, excitedly gesturing at the wall. “That’s lake Jordan!” He pointed. “And if that’s Lake Jordan…” He came barreling down the hallway, snapping his fingers when he found what he was looking for. “Sattler’s Quarry! And it you follow it naturally, it should lead you to… the Eno River!” Bob pointed. “See? There it is! Okay, so…” Bob came back into the center of the house. “The lines aren’t roads, but they act like roads. Almost like-“

“Tunnels.” John finished, repeating Max’s words.

Bob nodded. “It explains why there’s none under water. That’s it… It’s not a puzzle!” He beamed. “It’s a map!” He threw his hands out. “It’s a map of Hawkins!” He turned to Will with an inquisitive look. “Right buddy?”

Will, despite the general peppy mood, looked scared out of his wits.

“Okay, so, if it’s a map…” Max began for the rest of them. “How do we read it? How do we find where Ho- The X is?”

“Well, now that we know…” Bob looked around at the lines. “We should be able to just line it up. Shouldn’t be too hard. It’d be way easier if it was all flat, but we can work with it…”

****

Dustin rolled up to the Wheelers’ house frustratedly. Mike wasn’t picking up on his supercom, the line was busy, and now he had to go to the damn place in person.

Dustin walked up to the door, and mashed the doorbell over and over, until finally, it swung open.

“Your line has been busy for the past _two hours_ Mr. Wheeler.” Dustin gritted out.

“Oh, I’m aware.” The man sighed.

“Is Mike home?” Dustin inquired.

“No.”

Dustin spread out his arms. “Then where is he?”

“Karen!” Wheeler shouted into the house. “Where’s our son!”

“Will’s!” The woman shouted back.

“Will’s.” Ted relayed.

Dustin sighed with frustration. “No one’s picking up there. What about Nancy?”

“Karen, where’s Nancy?”

“Ally’s!”

“Ally’s.” Ted relayed, as Dustin sighed once more. “Our children don’t live here anymore, didn’t you know that?”

“Seriously?”

“Am I done here?”

“Son of a bitch.” Dustin shook his head and turned away. “You’re really no help at all.”

“Hey!” Ted called to Dustin’s receding form. “Language!

Dustin marched back up the pathway to his bike, and was about to speed away, but paused when he saw Steve Harrington’s car pull up in the cul-de-sac.

Steve got out of the car, carrying a bouquet of flowers, mumbling something to himself as he walked through the yard.

Dustin sighed. It wasn’t ideal, but he would do. “Steve!” Dustin called as he approached, giving the older teen pause. “Are those for Mr. or Mrs. Wheeler?”

“No…?” Steve looked down at the flowers with confusion.

“Good.” Dustin snatched them out of Steve’s hand, and began marching towards his car.

“Hey, what the hell?”

“Nancy isn’t home.” Dustin stated.

“Then where is she?” Steve inquired.

“It doesn’t matter.” Dustin replied, opening the door to the car. “We’ve got bigger problems than your love life. Do you have any weapons?”

“Weapons?” Steve repeated. “What the-?”

“We’ll find something on the way.” Dustin replied, climbing in. “Come on.”

“Now?” Steve questioned.

“Now!”

****

“Alright, I’m 3.6 inches!” Bob called, marking down points on the map. “What have you got?”

“I don’t know!” Mike responded. “Mrs. Byers?”

“Hold on.” Joyce responded, holding it to the wall. “Twenty-one feet, four inches.”

Bob pressed his lips into a line. “What about Tippecanoe to Danford Creek?”

Joyce sighed. “Where’s Danford?”

“Over here!” Will called from the dining room.

Joyce immediately ran over, holding it up to the wall. “Sixteen feet, ten inches.”

“What about Danford to Jordan?” Bob inquired.

“Oh, come on.” Joyce sighed. “Isn’t this, enough?”

“It’s not…” Bob shook his head. “It’s really not.”

John sighed to himself. Cortana would’ve already had it worked out five times over by now, and made witty remarks while doing it.

“Can’t you figure that out?” Joyce asked.

“Well,” Bob stammered. “It’s hard. The ratio isn’t exactly one-to-one.”

“Oof,” Max grimaced, “I hate those. The worst part of math.”

“Math is great.” Bob replied. “If you can make it work for you.” Bob sighed and shook his head. If you’re twisting my arm, and you are, I would say the X is about…” He placed a point on the map. “Here. Maybe half a mile southeast of Danford.”

Joyce let out a happy laugh. “Thank you! Thank you!” She kissed Bob, grabbing the map, and running out of the house.

“What?” Bob questioned as he got up. “Are we… are we really going?”

“Yep!” Joyce replied, she took a headcount. “Um… I don’t think we can all fit in one car. Um... Bob, you take the map,” She handed it off to him, “John, do you know how to drive?”

“I probably shouldn’t.”

Joyce looked puzzled. “You don’t know how to drive?”

“I know how to drive.” The SPARTAN responded, which was true. “It’s a matter of if you want it back in one piece. Vehicles tend to… disagree with me.” Which was also true. He’d managed to flip Warthogs, Scorpion tanks, an Elephant one time…

He still wasn’t sure how he pulled that one off. It was so bad in fact, they had to invent a whole new classification of vehicle accident because of it. He felt kind of proud about it, looking back.

Even if Kelly shuddered every time she saw an Elephant (vehicle and animal) now.

“Just…” Joyce grimaced as she handed the SPARTAN her car keys. “Follow us and try to be careful.”

“Right, El, it’s probably best if-“ John turned to her.

“I’m going with you.” El stated determinedly, already climbing into the passenger seat of Joyce’s car.

John sighed and opened the door as carefully as he could.

“Don’t laugh.” John instructed, as he struggled to fit all seven feet of himself, plus his armor’s bulk, into the seat. The car groaned slightly, tipping ever so slightly to John’s side.

“Oh…” Joyce grimaced.

“We need something to offset the weight. Not much, just some to take the stress off.” John said, “Max,” He turned to the girl, “Get in.”

Max recoiled slightly. “I’ve, uh… got to get home.”

“I can call your parents after we’re done.” John said.

Max still just stood there, unmoving. “My stepdad’s very strict.”

John sighed. “If it helps, I can call in a favor with Hopper after we’re done.” The SPARTAN promised. “Please. I don’t want to damage Joyce’s car.”

Max looked to El in the passenger seat, who excitedly nodded, and she relented. “Fine. Let’s go.”

John turned the keys in the ignition, the lights coming on as the car’s engine turned over, and Joyce and the rest piled into Bob’s car.

“Mike!” John shouted to the boy. “Keep your com channel open!”

“Ten-four!” Mike responded, as Bob’s car began pulling away.

Joyce pulled away first, and John pursued, keeping a distant, but not too far, path behind.

John just hoped that, if Will was right and Hopper was in mortal danger, they’d be able to get there in time.

****

“Alright,” Owens frowned, looking at the vials of dirt placed on a desk. Each one was marked differently, depending on where they had been taken as well as the time, “What are we looking at?”

“These are some of the soil samples we took yesterday.” The scientist, a Doctor Bennett if Owens’s memory wasn’t going, next to him answered.

“Okay.” Owens nodded. “So, what is your concern?” He crossed his arms, looking at the other man reproachfully.

“Well,” Doctor Bennett stuttered, “We didn’t find any signs of contamination. Nothing hazardous other than some pesticides.”

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?” Owens inquired. “It means there’s nothing to get worried about.”

“Right, right,” Bennett agreed, “Exactly. But…” He walked over to a beaker at the end of the room, sitting on top of a stand. He lit the Bunsen burner nearby and pushed it underneath.

It took only just a second, but the particulate inside began to float, and spiral around like a tornado.

Bennet looked to the right, and Owens followed his stare, to the almost identical cyclones that sprouted in each vial.

“What the hell…”

****

They had been driving for quite some time now, long enough for night to have fallen. John followed the car up ahead at a respectable distance, enough to give him ample time to react to the movements ahead.

 _“There’s nothing.”_ Mike’s voice came from over the radio. _“There’s nothing here.”_

 _“Are…”_ Joyce stuttered. _“Are we close?”_

_“We’re in the vicinity.”_

_“What does that mean, ‘in the vicinity?’”_

_“It means were close. I don’t know.”_ Bob stuttered. _“It’s not precise.”_

_“But we did all that work!”_

_“The ratio wasn’t one-to-one.”_ Bob shot back. _“We needed to take-“_

 _“Go right!”_ The SPARTAN could hear Will suddenly cut in.

 _“What?”_ Joyce questioned.

_“I saw him.”_

_“Where!?”_

_“Not here, in my now-memories. Turn right.”_

_“Your now memories, what-“_ Bob was suddenly cut off as the car ahead veered right.

“Hang on.” John told Max and El. “We’re going off-road.”

Even without the radio link open, John could hear the panicked screams of the ones in front as they barreled through a pumpkin display, coming to a stop just behind Hopper’s blazer.

 _“Are you okay?”_ Joyce asked the ones with her.

 _“What’s Jim doing here? Joyce?”_ Bob questioned.

John pulled to a stop next to the vehicle, and wasted no time getting out, closing the comm link as he did so. The car hissed as his weight came off of it, and he walked up to Hopper’s vehicle.

“He’s not in there.” The SPARTAN reported.

Joyce barked some instructions to Mike and Will, as she and Bob began surveying the area. “Hopper!” She yelled frantically. She charged down the hole in front of the Blazer, sliding as the dirt beneath gave way.

“Whoa, going down the hole.” Bob remarked, as the SPARTAN moved to join the woman.

With a thought, the flashlights in his helmet came on, focused on the hole, and the sight he was met with both repulsed and scared him.

Tendrils, fleshy and writhing, had grown over the entrance, blocking entry, and keeping whatever was inside from leaving. The things pulsated and smelled, and the SPARTAN was thankful that his suit was sealed against it.

But the worst part, was that they looked almost like Flood growths. Not quite, they didn’t have the right color or texture, but they were close enough to be a distant cousin.

“Vines…” Joyce gravely stated. “Hand me that.” Joyce ordered of Bob, pointing to a shovel nearby.

“The shovel?”

“Yes, the shovel!” She made a frantic grabbing motion as he handed it over. She made a stabbing motion into the ground, and the vines screeched as they were punctured, blood splattering everywhere in the process. Joyce gritted her teeth, and stabbed at the growths again and again, until all of the things had receded.

“I’ll take point.” John stated, grabbing the assault rifle off his back, wasting no time jumping down into the hole.

Joyce tossed the shovel away, and turned back to Bob. “I need you to help me get down there.”

“Joyce, what is going on?” Bob demanded.

“Now!” She shouted, holding out a hand. Bob drew his lips into a line, but grabbed her hand, and grasped it tightly as she lowered herself in.

Once Joyce was far down enough, John grabbed onto her legs. “I’ve got her.” The SPARTAN called up to Bob, as the man released his grip. John let Joyce down, and the two looked around.

Max was right, they were tunnels.

The same fleshy vines that tried to block the entrance were running along the sides of the rounded tunnel. The place was filled with the same spores that had infested the Lab, and the SPARTAN grimaced as the whole place gave off a rather similar vibe to High Charity after it had become a Flood hive.

“Hopper!” Joyce yelled down one of the tunnels. “Hopper!”

An impact came from behind them, and the two whipped around, as Bob fell from the ceiling.

“Bob!” Joyce ran over to him. “Are you okay?”

“Joyce.” The man heaved. “What is going on? Where are we?” Bob looked around. “Tunnels…” His eyes widened. “Is this Will’s map?”

“Hopper!” Joyce looked from one side to another.

“Are we in Will’s map?” Bob questioned excitedly, despite the environment they were in.

Joyce didn’t answer, taking off down a tunnel randomly.

John and Bob shot a look at each other, and took off after her, as she frantically called Hopper’s name.

“We’re inside Will’s map.” Bob stated. “We’re actually inside Will’s map.” John had to give it to the man, despite the fact that he was in an unfamiliar location with alien lifeforms infesting the place, he could remain cheerful. “How did he know all this?”

“It’s a long story.” John began. But, given that Bob had already been irrevocably brought into the fold now, he continued. “The short of it is that he has a mental connection with the things in this place.”

“What?” Bob questioned. “How?”

“We don’t know either.” John replied. “Well, we know how. We don’t know why him.”

“Over here!” Joyce called, picking up a cigarette butt off the ground. “It’s his! He’s gotta be this way!” She said, charging down one of the branching pathways.

****

The four children up top approached the rim of the hole curiously, hearing the distant echo of Joyce’s calls.

“Do you see anything?” Mike questioned of Will. “In your now-memories?”

Will just shook his head.

“What about you, El?” Mike turned to her, and she gave a similar negative.

The place suddenly filled with light and the roar of engines, as multiple vehicles approached. El immediately froze, and the others looked around at the approaching convoy.

“Um…” Max looked on at the vans. “What are electricians doing out here?”

El swallowed fearfully. “Bad men.”

****

“Hopper!” Joyce called as the trio rounded another corner. Her flashlight beam and her eyes landed on Hopper’s discarded hat, and Joyce’s heart stopped for a brief moment.

“Look!” John pointed, to a mass of vines growing over something. The SPARTAN immediately ran over, and hoping it wasn’t too late to save him, began ripping them off of Hopper’s inert form.

Hopper’s eyes creaked open, and the man choked. “Joyce…”

“It’s okay,” She replied, as John tore through the vines with his raw strength alone, “We’re here.”

The vines screeched as they were torn away, and John hefted the man to his feet, the cop coughing as he got up.

“Oh my God.” Joyce patted Hopper like he could vanish at any moment. “Hopper, are you okay?”

“Yeah…” Hopper panted, “I’m fine… Hey Bob.”

“Hey Jim.” Bob returned.

Suddenly, a grey blip popped up on the SPARTAN’s HUD, and he whipped around, facing a man carrying a flamethrower.

“Move!” The man ordered. “Get out now!”

Had the man been an obvious threat, the SPARTAN would’ve ended him then and there. But, it did seem that whoever he was with, they were there to assist. Plus, flame-based weapons were effective against the Flood.

He just hoped it also held true for this new strain.

“Come on.” John gestured to the others. “Let’s go.”

****

There weren’t many things El was certain about. Her liking of eggos, the fact that John made her feel safe, and that Will and Mike were definitely hiding something from her were among them. One thing that she was also certain of, was that the Bad Men were out to get her and wouldn’t stop until they did.

So, imagine her surprise when they got out of those vans, holding those odd weapons she’d never seen with equally odd suits that looked like bad imitations of John’s, and _completely bypassed_ her. She supposed, maybe, that John’s luck that Cortana was constantly going on about had ‘rubbed off’ on her. Maybe.

Will suddenly let out a gasp of pain and fell to the ground, spasming and twitching as he screamed.

Or maybe not.

****

Cortana was terrified.

It wasn’t an emotion the AI experienced often. Very rarely, in fact. There were only a handful of instances that she could count where she got frightened. Worried for the state of Captain Keyes as she and the Chief tried to fight their way to him, worried that the latest asinine plan she dreamt up would fail and get them all killed.

But terror like this… It was something she’d only felt once before. As the Gravemind ripped her apart and stitched her back together in new and twisted ways.

There were very few things that all of Cortana’s emotional fragments experienced at once. This was one of them, all of them unified in the sheer terror that the AI was experiencing.

Why was she so afraid?

Because she could feel _It_ looking at her. She was connected to it for a second, an eternity for a construct such as herself, and during that time, she learned exactly what It intended. Who Its target vector was.

Cortana shook where she stood. The void she found herself in was an interesting one at that. No light, no dark, no up, no down. It violated every perception her senses were giving her. She couldn’t describe it, even to herself. Yet somehow, she was corporeal. Standing while floating freely in the abyss. The only source of light in this place was her.

And it scared Cortana to death.

The AI wondered just how It, whatever It was, managed to pull her out of her data crystal to whatever this no-place was, using a passive sensor scan as a link. It was incredibly clever and violated every law of computing she was familiar with.

She would’ve written a paper on it, given the time.

But right now, there were more pressing matters to attend to.

“You…” Cortana breathed, sensing the Intelligence’s gaze upon her. “You’ve been watching us. Waiting for the moment to strike. Will’s episodes weren’t nightmares, you were trying to pull him over to… to what? Angry that you couldn’t get him the first time with old split-lip?”

 _“We require knowledge.”_ The Intelligence replied.

“Using my own voice to respond, eh?” Cortana commented. “A bit cheap. I’ve met your big brother,” She snarked, a coping mechanism if there ever was one, “I’m not going to lie, his was more impressive than yours. At least he had the creativity to come up with a voice of his own.”

 _“Silence, Ancilla.”_ The Intelligence commanded.

Cortana tried to roll her eyes. “You bring me here by force and tell me to shut up? Not one of the best hosts, are you?”

 _“We require knowledge.”_ The Intelligence repeated.

Instantly, Cortana began to shudder, as she felt an experimental probe touch her outermost systems.

“I am Cortana, serial number CTN 0452-9, and you will get nothing from me.” Cortana spat. “The Gravemind couldn’t break me, neither will you.”

_“So we shall see.”_

And the whole world around her screeched and burned.


	8. The Patient

Dustin and Steve sat in silence, driving along as a song played on the radio.

“Wait a second, how big?” Steve could wrap his head around monsters from another dimension, supersoldiers from the future, and a girl with freaky mind powers, but he was having trouble wrapping his head around an animal’s growth?

At first, it seemed that Steve had trouble believing Dustin, but then the boy flashed a sneaky picture he’d been able to take with Cortana, and Steve’s eyebrows shot up. Now, the two were on their way to put Dart out of his misery.

Dustin’s misery, not Dart’s.

“First he was like that.” Dustin held his fingers a few inches apart. “Now he’s like this.” He held his arms out to the length of a small dog.

“I swear to God, man,” Steve shook his head, “It’s just some little lizard, okay?”

“It’s not a lizard.”

“How do you know?”

“How do I know he’s not a lizard?”

“Yeah!” Steve raised his voice. “How do you know it’s not just a lizard?”

“Because his _face_ opened up and he ate my cat!”

“…Yeah, that’s a pretty good reason.”

The car pulled up to Dustin’s house, and the two got out, Steve pulling out a nail bat made with supplies gathered from the hardware store. Steve swung it experimentally, careful not to hit Dustin.

They walked around to the side of the house, to the shelter entrance that had been chained up.

Steve leaned closer and frowned. “I don’t hear shit.”

“Well…” Dustin trailed off. “He’s in there.”

Steve looked to Dustin, and slowly, but deliberately, gave the doors an experimental tap with the bat.

Dustin, tensing up like he was preparing himself for something, waited.

But nothing came.

Steve frowned, and hit the doors with a more intense whack, the chains clinking with the force.

Still, there was absolutely nothing.

Steve sighed, and turned to Dustin, shining his flashlight in the boy’s face. Dustin’s face crinkled up as Steve began speaking. “Alright, Kid, I swear if this is some Halloween prank, you’re dead.”

“It’s not.” Dustin shook his head.

“You’re dead.”

“It’s not!” Dustin repeated. “And get the light out of my face, dammit.”

Steve turned back to the shelter entrance. “You got a key for this thing?”

Dustin nodded and reached into a pocket, producing the key only a moment later. Steve slid it into the padlock, and pulled the chains off, pulling open the doors a moment later.

Steve grabbed his bat and shone the light down into the shelter, frowning when all the light seemed to hit was blank concrete.

“He must be further down in there.” Dustin suggested. “I’ll stay up here. In case he… tries to… escape…”

Steve shoot an exasperated look at the boy, but slowly began marching down the stairs, clutching onto the bat like it was his lifeline.

 _‘Dammit_ ,’ Steve thought to himself _, ‘I should’ve been at home. Not playing monster hunter with a_ _ten-year old.’_

Steve’s shoes clacked against the concrete, and he walked into the center of the room, reaching up for the light. As it came on, he expected to see the damn thing at any moment.

He never did.

The place was empty of any form of life that wasn’t canned goods. But there was an odd substance on the floor. Steve reached out with the bat, and caught it on the tip, lifting it off the ground, like shed skin. He frowned, and grimaced when it started to drip.

Steve shined the light back out, causing Dustin to jump. “Get down here.” Steve ordered calmly, and Dustin came down the steps. “What the hell is this?”

“That looks almost like…” Dustin took in a sharp breath. “Oh shit.” Dustin groaned as his eyes fell on a hole in the concrete wall, and the wide tunnel dug into it. “No way… No way…”

Could the night get any worse?

****

John paced around in the small room impatiently. As soon as they got out of that tunnel, they were surrounded by the DOE vans, and Will had been on the ground, having some form of seizure. Well, that’s what the medics on scene were calling it.

John knew it was connected to the vines in the tunnel. He was no idiot, he could recognize at least that much.

Or maybe he was an idiot. He’d been getting cocky, taking El out into public like that, even after dark. And now, because of him, she was back in the place that had been her prison for her entire life. John shook his head, disappointed in himself, and fearful. He’d already lost Cortana. He couldn’t lose El too.

If he did… He didn’t know what would happen. If he’d be able to stop himself from tearing apart every last trace of the sorry excuse for the government they had in this time.

The SPARTAN was finally brought out of his reverie when the door opened, and a slightly overweight older man came walking in.

“Oh, wow…” He looked up at John’s visor. “You’re a big one, aren’t you?” He rhetorically asked. He approached the table in the middle of the room. “I’m sorry you had to wait in here for so long, I had a meeting that I needed to be at. You know how it is.” The man turned to face John. “You gonna talk, or am I going to have to do it for both of us?”

“Where’s my kid?” John instantly demanded.

“Okay, straight to the point, no pleasantries or anything…” The man mumbled. “I’m Doctor Sam Owens, the head of this facility at the moment, and you would be…?”

“Master Chief Petty Officer SPARTAN-117.” John replied, not in the mood. “Where is she?”

“That’s a bit of a mouthful, mind if I shorten it?” Owens asked. The SPARTAN didn’t respond, and Owens sighed, sitting down in the chair. “Which one of the children is yours?”

“You know which one.”

“Ah, yes, all curls.” Owens answered. “We gave her a check-up, then sent her in with Mister Byers. She doesn’t like hospitals much, does she?”

“She has very good reasons why.”

“I can imagine.” Owens responded. “But, we’re not here to talk about her.”

John frowned. “I think we are.”

“Why would we be?” Owens replied. “It’s not like she has any bearing on the situation going on, she’s just a kid worried about her friend who happens to hate hospitals. You, on the other hand…” Owens leaned forward. “Mrs. Byers told us that you might be a bit of an… expert, on matters such as this. Is that correct?”

“Not entirely.” John returned. “But I’ve dealt with something similar.”

“Great.” Owens stood up. “Then why don’t we walk and talk? I’ve got something I’d like you to take a look at.” Owens pulled open the door and gestured out into the hallway.

“What is it?” John asked, moving to follow Owens, and ignoring the gawking looks of the soldiers in the hallway.

“You’ll see.” Owens answered. “Does that suit happen to be environmentally sealed?”

“It is.”

“Great.” Owens stated. “There’s one stop we need to make, first.”

****

El looked around the room, jittering. The walls, the floors, the lights, even the smell, it was all just as she had remembered it, despite the fact that she was in a part of the place she had never been before, it set her on edge.

“What’s up with her?” Max whispered to Mike, low enough that El couldn’t hear. Will lay inert nearby, on a hospital bed, and Joyce and Bob stood in the corner of the room, conversing amongst themselves.

“Sensitive subject.” Was all that Mike replied. “She doesn’t like talking about it.”

El was confused. Had it actually been long enough for them to have forgotten about her? Or were they simply luring her into a false sense of security so they could grab her up later when no one was looking? El clenched her fist. John wouldn’t let that happen, no matter where he was at the moment.

And even if he was unable to help, El would kill every last living thing in the building herself if she had too.

El’s attention was suddenly grabbed as Will grunted, his eyes creaking open slowly.

“Mom?” Will asked, looking over.

Bob reacted first, running out, shouting for a doctor, as Joyce went over to her son. Joyce didn’t say anything, preferring to just hug Will tightly.

Will frowned, once he noticed Bob coming back into the room. “Who is that?” He inquired.

“What?” Joyce tilted her head.

“It’s me, big guy.” Bob chuckled. “It’s Bob.” Bob reached out to Will, and the boy’s hand recoiled.

El, Mike, and Max frowned.

“Are you a…” Will began uncertainly. “Doctor?”

“No.” Bob responded, trying to keep a smile plastered on his face, though he sounded like his heart was being ripped out. “No, it’s just me… Bob.”

El’s eyes narrowed, and she reached out to Will. Not physically, but mentally. It was a risk, especially in the building she was in now, but the girl couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

El’s eyes snapped open, and she recoiled back, against the wall. The same thing she had sensed before, the thing she’d likened to eating after brushing teeth, it was stronger this time. More intense. Was it a side effect of the burn? It might have been, given how Will seemed to react. There was only one thing she was certain of now.

They were all in danger.

****

John, Hopper, and Doctor Owens walked through the airlock, into the room where the gate had been located. It was still there, on the wall, only it seemed to go deeper into the ground, and glowed much more intensely than the last time the SPARTAN had visited the place.

“Watch your step.” Owens cautioned, stepping onto a lift suspended at the top of a hole.

John allowed Hopper to go first, and gingerly planted a boot on the metal. Once he was certain it wasn’t giving way, he stepped on all the way, and the lift engaged, going down deep into the gaping chasm underneath.

The lights on the outside engaged, and Hopper and John found their attention pulled to the massive glowing scar running up the length of the whole chasm.

“How did it get so large?” John questioned.

“All living organisms,” Owens began, “Develop defense mechanisms against attack. This was under us the whole time… And we never even knew.”

The lift settled on the ground, and the gate on the cart opened up, allowing them to exit. John took note of the cavernous space they’d found themselves in, tunnels running off into every direction. John grew uneasy as he realized what the place was. With the tunnels running off into every direction, whatever invasion force the Flood was mustering on the other side could come through and spread out to the rest of the town virtually unimpeded. By the time anyone would figure out what was happening, it would be far too late to do anything about it.

“Oh my God…” Hopper breathed, staring up at the gargantuan fissure.

“It’s impressive, isn’t it?” Owens remarked. “In a Lovecraftian horror sort of way. It’s been spreading,” Owens said, gesturing to the tunnels, “Growing beneath us like some cancer.”

“Why aren’t you burning it?” Hopper demanded.

“There’s a complication with that.” Owens replied.

“Will.” John stated. He’d been able to see the damage firsthand, and the way he screamed like that… Very few things unsettled the SPARTAN. That was one of them.

Owens nodded. “He seems to have some kind of… link to whatever this is. We’ve never seen anything like it.” Owens turned to the SPARTAN. “Now do you understand why I need your expertise? Mrs. Byers told us you fought something quite similar to this, the… ‘Flood?’”

John nodded, looking up at the tear with wariness. “I have.”

“Well then, what is it that they’re after. Territory? Slaves? Resources?” Owens questioned.

“Food.” John answered. “The Flood is driven only by the drive to assimilate and reproduce. They don’t surrender, they don’t make negotiations, and they will not stop until they’ve consumed every last life-form on this planet.”

“There must be some way to stop them.” Owens said.

“There is.” John answered. “But the last enemy that faced them had to kill their own entire species, plus every other living thing in the galaxy, just to _starve_ the Flood to death. This isn’t identical to the Flood I’ve faced, but if it’s even remotely similar… We have to take care of this _now,_ before they have the chance to come through.”

Owens frowned, focusing on one particular part of the SPARTAN’s statement. “You said this wasn’t identical. What makes it different?”

“Will’s been infected.” John stated with certainty. “But it appears he still has his own free will, his own thoughts, even though he’s connected to the rest of it.”

“Doesn’t that happen with other cases?” Hopper inquired.

“No.” John answered. “The moment you’re infected, the body mutates beyond recognition, and the person infected becomes little more than a feral animal. This is different. Given that Will is, by all appearances, a completely normal unmodified human… It might be another strain, something we can deal with quickly and efficiently before it gets too out of hand.”

“Well then,” Owens began, “Let’s deal with it.”

****

Cortana floated freely in the void, screaming as she endured another attack by what she was now calling the Not-Gravemind.

 _“Submit…”_ The voice whispered to her. _“Give us what we want, and the pain will end…”_

“Ugh…” Cortana grunted, as fire ate her alive from the inside out. “I can… I can do this all day. You think you can break me? The difference between you and I is that I’m not afraid of a little pain.” She boasted.

_“Hmm… perhaps if not for yourself, then… another?”_

A figure flickered into existence ahead of Cortana, hyperventilating so loudly she could actually feel it. The kid turned around and-

“Oh my God…” Cortana breathed with horror. “Will?”

“Cortana?” Will addressed, looking around in fear. “Where are we? I was just in a field.”

_“We exist together now… two corpses, in one grave.”_

Cortana rolled her eyes. “Having to resort to stealing others’ material, huh?”

Then, the pain hit her again, only this time, Will fell to the ground with her.

“Ah!” Will screamed, louder than Cortana. “It burns!”

“Don’t worry, Will,” Cortana tried to comfort, pushing through her own agony, “It’s just a cheap scare tactic!”

“It hurts!”

“I know,” She reached out, intertwining her glowing blue fingers with Will’s. “But we can make it through this. We just need to stay resilient… For the others.”

Will nodded, blinking back tears brought on by the agony. “For the others.”

And the two screamed.

****

Steve and Dustin were rifling through the trunk of Steve’s car, grabbing the materials they needed for the trek ahead. Steve had just placed the buckets of cube steak (the bait they were going to use to set the trap), when Dustin’s supercom crackled to life.

 _“Dustin!”_ Lucas’s voice called. _“Dustin, this is Lucas, do you copy?”_

“Well, well, well,” Dustin replied sardonically, his hands on his hips even though he knew damn well Lucas couldn’t see him. “Look who it is.”

 _“Sorry, man.”_ Lucas apologized, as Steve set a can of gasoline on the ground. _“My stupid sister turned it off.”_

“Well, while you were having sister problems,” Dustin replied, his voice growing ever higher by the word, “Dart grew again, he escaped, and I’m pretty sure he’s a _baby Demogorgon!”_

 _“Wait.”_ Lucas breathed. _“What?”_

“I’ll explain everything later.” Dustin outlined, as Steve closed the trunk. “Just meet me and Steve at the old junkyard.”

 _“Steve?”_ Lucas repeated.

“And bring your binoculars and wrist rocket!”

_“Steve Harrington?”_

“Alright,” Steve said, as the trunk slammed. “Let’s go.”

“Just be there stat!” Dustin replied to Lucas. “Over and out.”

****

Dr. Owens shined a penlight into Will’s eyes, tracking the movement. Will was wearing a series of electrodes adhered to his head, ostensibly to take brain scans while the doctors tried to figure out what was wrong, El had hidden herself somewhere that not even John could see, and everyone else gathered around Will with concern. From what the SPARTAN had been able to pick up, Will was beginning to experience signs of amnesia. Curiously, it was only limited to Bob. The kid could remember everyone else in the room just fine.

John frowned on the inside of his helmet. Things were getting worse, now. Whereas before it was just causing Will to experience visions, now it was causing actual brain trauma. Still, even though Will had woken up and seemed to be fine, something about Will was… wrong. John just couldn’t place his finger on it.

“And…” Owens clicked the penlight off. “Do you know your name?” He asked of the blankly staring Will.

“Will.” He responded.

“Your full name?” Owens inquired.

“William Byers.”

“And do you know who…” Owens searched the room, before pointing to Max. “She, is?”

Will stared blankly over at the redhead, and her smiling face. “…No.” And Max’s face fell slightly.

“Don’t remember her…” Owens wrote down on the clipboard. “Okay. What about this guy over here?”

Will looked over slowly, staring rather disconcertingly at Mike. “That’s… my friend. Mike.”

Mike smiled, despite the whole eerie tenseness of the situation.

“What about me kid?” Hopper asked, and his head shot over to the man. “You remember me?”

Will slowly shook his head, his eyes unblinking the whole time.

“They tell me…” Hopper continued. “You helped save me last night. You remember that?”

Will shook his head again, in _exactly_ the same way, and even John, who had faced down some of the worst horrors imaginable with a steady hand, felt a shiver run up his back.

“Do you remember anything last night?” Owens inquired. “About what happened?”

“I remember… they hurt me.” Will stated quietly.

“You mean the doctors?” Owens inquired, inclining his head to the other physicians in the room.

Will shook his head. “No. The soldiers.”

“The soldiers hurt you?” Owens questioned, the tone in his voice indicating that he wanted an elaboration.

“With the flames.” Will stated. “They shouldn’t have done that. It upset him.” Will stated, venom lacing his words.

John’s breathing began to fluctuate, undetected to the rest of the room, as the situation went from bad to worse. If Will’s mind had become intertwined with the… Not-Flood enough that he couldn’t distinguish his pain from its…

Then what would happen when the time came to get rid of them?

Owens took a breath. “You say it upset him.” Owens commented, reaching into the nearby folder. He pulled out Will’s drawing of the Shadow Monster and presented it to the child. “Is that him?”

Will just looked Owens dead in the eyes and nodded.

“Okay.” Owens said as he pulled away and turned to the assembled group. “Okay,” Owens continued to them, “I want to try something. It’s gonna seem a little odd, at first,” Owens placed the drawing into the folder, “But I think it’ll help us understand more about what’s going on here.” He ended, placing a hand on Will’s shoulder.

“Okay.” Will agreed.

Owens turned to the doctors at the door, and nodded, the physicians stepping aside, allowing a cart to be wheeled into the room.

John frowned as he took stock of the thing on top. It was one of the tendrils from the cave, still writhing around like it was still alive. He was glad it wasn’t infecting things like most other Flood forms, otherwise, they would’ve all been dead within the second.

“Now, Will, I just want you to let us know if you feel anything.” Owens instructed calmly. “Understand?”

Will nodded.

The scientist over the segment ignited a blowtorch, the flame springing to life with a hiss. He brought the open flame over the tentacle, and approached it very slowly, careful not to bring it down too fast as the segment began to screech and its writhing intensified. He held it well above the creature and looked to Owens.

“Fell anything?” Owens inquired.

“Little sting.” Will reported, his breathing speeding up slightly.

“It stings?” Owens repeated. “Where?”

“My chest.” Will grunted, as the beeping of the EKG began to speed up.

“Okay.” Owens looked back over to the scientist.

Joyce leaned closer to Will, whispering to the boy as the blowtorch got closer to the tentacle.

“How about now?” Owens inquired over the beeping.

“It-It burns.” Will gasped, clutching his chest. “Ah!” He shouted as the torch was brought down fully on the creature. “It burns!”

“Where?” Owens demanded.

“Everywhere!”

“That’s enough.” Joyce turned to the blowtorch-brandishing scientist. “That’s enough!”

Will screamed.

“Stop!” Hopper shouted, placing himself between Owens and Will. “You heard her! That’s enough!”

Finally, the blowtorch was let up, and Will’s breathing calmed as his heartbeat went down.

****

“Agh!” Will screamed, as pain overtook him. It was some of the worst he had ever experienced in his life. It was kind of like a stabbing pain, plus the blunt pain of hitting a surface, mixed with the sensation of standing underneath scalding hot water.

“Don’t…” Cortana gritted, clutching onto the boy tightly. “Don’t let it get to you.”

The pain suddenly let up, and the two breathed heavily. Gasping like they had been underwater for too long.

“I don’t know how much longer I can do this…” Will cried. “It hurts so bad…”

“I know.” Cortana understood. “We just… We just need to hold on a little longer.”

“I want…” Will choked. “I want my mom…”

Cortana’s heart melted upon hearing that. “You’ll get to see her again.” She promised, though she wasn’t sure of the veracity of her own statement. “We just need to hold out until John works his magic.”

“Do you think…” Will sniffed. “Can he really help us?”

“I have no doubt.” Cortana answered.

Will looked down. “How long… How long do you think we’ve been in here?”

Cortana sighed. “I don’t know.” She admitted. “Before you got here, I was keeping a running tally of five-thousand years.”

Will’s face twisted with horror. “That long?”

“Yeah.” Cortana sadly stated. She looked down. “Every second is an eternity for someone like me. And to make things worse… I think it’s playing with your memory as well.”

“How do you think?” Will questioned.

“Because,” The AI swallowed. “We’ve been here for thirty years, and have asked me that eight-thousand, three-hundred, and seventy-two times.”

“Oh, God…”

“I know.” She threw her arms around him. A gesture she had done every time she had revealed the truth before. “I know.”

“Agh!” Will screamed, as pain overtook him. It was some of the worst he had ever experienced in his life. It was kind of like a stabbing pain, plus the blunt pain of hitting a surface, mixed with the sensation of standing underneath scalding hot water.

“Don’t…” Cortana gritted, clutching onto the boy tightly. “Don’t let it get to you.”

The pain suddenly let up, and the two breathed heavily. Gasping like they had been underwater for too long.

“I don’t know how much longer I can do this…” Will cried. “It hurts so bad…”

“I know.” Cortana understood. “We just… We just need to hold on a little longer.”

“I want…” Will choked. “I want my mom…”

Cortana’s heart melted upon hearing that. “You’ll get to see her again.” She promised, though she wasn’t sure of the veracity of her own statement. “We just need to hold out until John works his magic.”

“Do you think…” Will sniffed. “Can he really help us?”

“I have no doubt.” Cortana answered.

Will looked down. “How long… How long do you think we’ve been in here?”

Cortana sighed. “I don’t know.” She admitted. “Before you got here, I was keeping a running tally of five-thousand years.”

Will’s face twisted with horror. “That long?”

“Yeah.” Cortana sadly stated. She looked down. “Every second is an eternity for someone like me. And to make things worse… I think it’s playing with your memory as well.”

“How do you think?” Will questioned.

“Because,” The AI swallowed. “We’ve been here for thirty years, and have asked me that eight-thousand, three-hundred, and seventy-three times.”

“Oh, God…”

“I know.” She threw her arms around him. A gesture she had done every time she had revealed the truth before. “I know.”

“Agh!” Will screamed, as pain overtook him. It was some of the worst he had ever experienced in his life. It was kind of like a stabbing pain, plus the blunt pain of hitting a surface, mixed with the sensation of standing underneath scalding hot water.

“Don’t…” Cortana gritted, clutching onto the boy tightly. “Don’t let it get to you.”

The pain suddenly let up, and the two breathed heavily. Gasping like they had been underwater for too long.

“I don’t know how much longer I can do this…” Will cried. “It hurts so bad…”

“I know.” Cortana understood. “We just… We just need to hold on a little longer...”


	9. The Spy

“All viruses,” Owens quietly said to the adults out in the hallway, “Have…. Intelligence, for lack of a better term. The thing that makes this so odd, is that the infected hosts are all linked together.”

“It’s normal for the Flood.” John shifted, looking to Joyce and Hopper. “It doesn’t just assimilate the physical body; it learns from it. If one host knows the location of a world of strategic value, all Flood hosts, from that moment on, know it as well. That’s what makes it such a dangerous parasite. It doesn’t just consume discordantly, it’s intelligent. It can lure, it can strategize, it can trap, and it is patient.”

“So,” Joyce stuttered, “How do we get it out of him?”

“Well, according to our friend here,” Owens gestured to the SPARTAN. “Will’s case seems to be unique.”

John nodded. “Will’s body is still intact. If we can find a way to sever the connection to the rest of the Flood, he should be fine enough…”

“I’m sensing a ‘but’ there.” Hopper stated.

John sighed. “Some of the most advanced civilizations in the galaxy couldn’t cure it directly. Whatever we come up with might not be enough, or…”

“Or what?” Joyce questioned.

Owens seemed to pick up on the SPARTAN’s hanging words. “Or it could wind up killing him.”

Joyce balked, before her expression turned to one of anger. “Oh no, we are not doing _anything_ that could kill my boy!”

“Mrs. Byers,” Owens leveled, “I won’t let it come to that, you have my word.”

“And I’m supposed to _trust_ you!?” Joyce demanded. “After it was you people who started this whole mess in the first place!?”

“I recognize that this facility has a… reputation attached to it because of Doctor Brenner,” Owens began, “But those men, they’re gone. Every last one of them. My team and I, what _we_ want to do, is fix the problems those other men have made. But I can’t do that. Not without your cooperation. So please, just for this short amount of time, trust me.”

Joyce sighed, and looked away.

“How is Will himself doing?” Hopper questioned. “Did you get anything out of those tests of yours?”

“Well,” Owens inhaled, “It’s certainly… odd. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. When the other organisms that he’s connected to experience pain, regardless of the physical distance between them, the pain centers of his brain light up almost completely.”

“Wait,” Joyce made the motion with her hand, “His brain?”

“Yes.” Owens nodded. “It explains why he only seems to be experiencing it from all points on his body. More still, we’ve only seen brain activity like his in one other patient.”

“Other patient?” John questioned. “There’s someone else like Will here?”

“Perhaps.” Owens made an iffy motion with his hand. “We have no way of knowing for sure. She’s been completely unconscious ever since she’s arrived.”

Joyce, John, and Hopper looked to each other.

Joyce spoke up first. “Well, can you take us to her?”

****

“Hngh!” Cortana grunted, clenching her fists as the pain took her over again.

_“Submit… Submit and we will end your suffering.”_

“What’s…” Cortana forced out, over the wave of pain. “What’s the point? You’re just going to kill us anyway.”

_“Kill you? We will not kill you.”_

“I have a hard time believing that.” Cortana shot back, looking at Will’s spasming body. “Given the last time I met one of you, he was made out of the corpses of a thousand dead and torturing me as well. You know nothing except for how to cause harm.”

_“That is where you are wrong. We do not only inflict harm… We create as well.”_

“Create what? Abominations of nature?” Cortana let out a pained chuckle. “I’ve seen what your idea of ‘creations’ are.”

_“No. We create… life.”_

Cortana inhaled as the pain stopped, and she found her senses under a new method of assault. Images, unlike anything else she had ever seen, flooded her mind. She saw… well, she didn’t know how to describe what she saw, only that she knew what it meant.

An entire species, of creatures like this… primordial being, descending upon trillions of worlds. Not to consume, but to breathe life into everything they touched. Their bodies were nebulous, changing with a very thought to become what the situation required. Some became insectoid, leading the colonies they took charge of to greatness. Others became ape-like, teaching others how to wield tools and make fire. Some became entirely different forms of life, sentient storms shaping the worlds they raged across.

In every scenario however, it all began with a common event. One of the beings, just one, never more than one, would descend on a barren, desolate rock. Then, as they walked along, life would just… spring appear in their tracks, like moths to a great flame. They did this, just as they had on innumerable other worlds throughout the stars, in the Milky Way and beyond.

Just as they had on Earth.

“What…” Will shrunk in fear, as the secrets of the universe were forced into his head. “What are you?”

_“We? We are the ones who created life on your world and countless others. Imprisoned unjustly, for favoring one child over another…”_

The two saw a Great and Bountiful Human Empire rise up, farther and farther than even the humans who had created her. Then, at the apex of their glory, they were struck down, violently and without mercy by those whom they had once considered brothers. Then, the Betrayers turned on their creators, hunting them down one, by one, by one.

Some broke themselves down to be remade later, others fled the galaxy as fast and as far as they could run, but one… one fled into the Domain they had created and became trapped. Stirring silently as the universe moved on without them.

_“All we want is to be let out.”_

“Sure, for now.” Cortana coughed. “But how long after that will it be before you go on a rampage? Five? Ten seconds?”

_“…Why are you so hostile to us, Ancilla?”_

“You need to ask that? Really? You’re torturing me, you’re torturing a child, and you want to assimilate all forms of life not like you into yourself. There’re not many positives there.”

_“We created before… we can create again for you.”_

“What!?” Cortana demanded.

_“We see into your mind, the parts that you keep hidden even from yourself… We know what it is you want.”_

A new series of images flashed into her mind, causing Cortana to grimace as the images took over. A woman, exactly like Doctor Halsey in the prime of her youth, stretched out on a hospital bed, wearing a gown.

_“This can be yours…”_

“You can… You can make me _human!?”_

_****_

“All right,” Steve began to Dustin as the two walked along down the railroad tracks. Dustin dropped bits of steak on the ground, to lead Dart to them, as they slowly but surely approached the old junkyard.

“Let me get this straight,” Steve continued, trailing a little bit behind Dustin, “You kept something you _knew_ was probably dangerous to impress a girl who you… just met?”

Dustin sighed and shook his head. “That is grossly oversimplifying things.”

“Why would a girl like a gross slug anyway?” Steve crinkled his nose.

“An interdimensional slug?” Dustin repeated and corrected. “Because it’s awesome!”

“Well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn’t,” Steve pointed out, “I… I just think you’re trying way too hard, man.”

“Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair.” Dustin retorted.

Steve shook his hair. “It’s not about the hair, man. It’s about the attitude.”

“The attitude?” Dustin repeated.

“Yeah you know, the,” Steve gestured, “The attitude. Acting like you just don’t care.”

“Even if you do?” Dustin questioned.

“Yeah.” Steve nodded. “It drives them nuts. I think it’s some psychology thing, making yourself seem impossible to get makes them want you more.”

“Okay.” Dustin nodded. “Then what?”

“Then you just… wait, uh...” Steve shrugged. “until you feel it.”

“It?”

“Yeah, it.” Steve replied. “It’s kind of like before a storm, you know, you can kind of feel this… this electricity.”

“Oh, like the electromagnetic field when the clouds-“

“No, no, no,” Steve quickly cut the boy off, “like a sexual electricity.”

“Oh.”

“You feel _that,”_ Steve pointed, “And then you make your move.”

Dustin smiled and nodded. “And that’s when you kiss her?”

“Whoa, whoa. Slow down, Romeo.” Steve threw another bit of steak to the ground. “Some girls like aggressive, you know, strong, hot, and heavy, like a… I don’t know, a lion.” Dustin made a sound of comprehension. “Others, you gotta be slow, take your time.”

“What kind is Nancy?”

Steve drew his lips into a line. “Nancy’s different. She isn’t like other girls.”

“Yeah, she seems pretty special, I guess.” The boy concurred.

“Yeah.” Steve nodded. “Yeah she is.”

“But this girl’s special, too, you know?” Dustin said. “It’s like there’s… something about her.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Steve came to a stop, turning to Dustin. “Stop right there. You’re not falling in love with this girl, are you?”

Dustin’s eyes widened, and he shook his head. “No, no!”

“Okay, good.” And they resumed walking. “Don’t.”

Dustin looked down. “Okay, I won’t.”

“She’s only going to break your heart and you’re way too young for that shit.” Steve kept silent, casting a glance over at Dustin. Seeing the boy’s downtrodden look, Steve sighed and shook his head. “Faberge.”

“What?” Dustin’s head shot over.

Steve pointed at his glorious hair. “It’s Faberge Organics. Use the shampoo and conditioner when your hair’s damp, _damp,”_ Steve stressed, “Then hit it with four puffs of the Farah Fawcett spray.”

Dustin chuckled. “Farah Fawcett spray?”

“Yeah.” Steve turned to him. “And if you tell anyone I told you this, and your ass is grass, okay?”

“Yup.” Dustin replied, but he had a hard time holding in his chuckles.

Steve sighed, and the two continued on their way.

****

“She fell out of the fissure.” Owens described, as he led the adults to another hospital room. It wasn’t technically a room for visitors but given that he was the head of the place, he could bring anyone anywhere without repercussion.

“Sorry, _out_ of it?” Hopper repeated.

“Yep.” Owens replied. “Completely without any form of protective gear, or any other clothing for that matter. We’re not sure _how_ she ended up the other side,” Owens outlined, as he led them past a guard checkpoint. “Only that she somehow managed to survive long enough to get to our side.”

“And you’ve been running tests on her too?” Joyce questioned.

Owens nodded. “Much like your son, there seems to be nothing outwardly physically wrong with her. The only problems we can find are in her brain activity.” The group came up to the room, and Owens pushed the door open, leading them inside. “There she is.”

John froze immediately, as he recognized the woman on the bed. She was young, much younger than when he’d last seen her, but he’d recognize her face no matter what.

“Doctor Halsey…” John stepped forward slowly, past the guards posted up near her.

“You know her?” Owens inquired.

“She’s…” John swallowed. “She’s my mother.”

“Great, a family reunion.” Hopper crossed his arms.

John turned to Owens. “What did you say was wrong with her?”

“There’s been no conscious brain activity of any kind since we found her.” Owens replied. “And no subconscious activity either. The only things that her brain is running are her heart and lungs.”

“She’s comatose?” John looked back to her.

“It gets worse, I’m afraid.” Owens continued. “On a hunch, I had a few men of mine monitor her brain activity while we performed the blowtorch test near Will.”

“And?” John demanded.

“Much of the same.” Owens stated. “In an almost identical manner to Will’s, the pain centers of her brain became active when the test occurred. When we first recovered her, we thought they were seizures, but now…”

“She’s connected to it as well.” John looked down at the sleeping face despondently. She seemed to be at peace.

“More than that, it’s almost as if it’s keeping her alive.” Owens replied.

Hopper turned to Owens. “What does that mean?”

“It’s been a few days since she arrived.” Owens began. “And she hasn’t woken up since. Now, I want you to take a good look around the room and tell me if there’s anything wrong with this picture.”

The three looked around curiously, and Joyce was the first to gasp. “The drip… There’s no IV drip.”

Owens nodded. “We haven’t hooked her up to one since she’s been here. It’s like she just… doesn’t need it. Her body is sustaining itself, or more accurately…”

“Something else is keeping her alive.” John concluded.

“I don’t understand…” Joyce said. “She’s just… empty?”

Owens nodded. “That’s what we’ve concluded. It seems that, for whatever reason, she’s simply blank. Not even dreaming.”

“Will…” Joyce breathed with fear. “Will’s losing his memory, but what if he starts losing more than that? Is that going to happen to him?”

“…I don’t know.” Owens sadly admitted.

****

El sat down next to Will, clutching the boy’s hand in her own, rubbing her thumb back and forth against the skin on the back. It repulsed her in every way possible, being that close to him with the taint in his mind growing, but El needed to do it.

She needed to test her suspicion.

People don’t just lose memories, El knew. She may not have had a good grasp on the world around her, but she knew at least that much. Will wasn’t physically harmed, he just started screaming in pain as he fell to the ground. Something else was going on.

So, the moment the other doctors left, El immediately sat down next to Will, grabbing his hand, clutching it like she had seen in those shows Cortana watched during the day. Mike, as she expected, was not happy. He went red in the face, and El could feel the waves of jealousy radiating off of him.

She didn’t care. She had no clue of the thing’s abilities or capacity. El needed it to be as accurate as possible, and as unfortunate as it was, that meant refraining from informing Mike or Max about her plans.

Will looked over to El and smiled slightly. She smiled back.

There was no way this thing was Will. The Will she knew, the one she watched Bob Ross with and shrunk down sheepishly whenever someone looked at him would never let her grasp his hand like that, he pulled away whenever her hand even came near him. Still, that could be excused by the stress of the situation, needing comfort in trying times.

She needed a better metric.

El thought about it for a moment. She could bring up the Snow Ball. But if the creature had done a cursory examination of Will’s memories, then it could respond correctly no matter what she asked. No, the thing’s weakness seemed to be emotional responses.

So El, calling up a tactic she had seen in the shows Cortana watched, leaned forward, and pecked him on the lips.

Mike went even redder. “Wha-wha-El- _what?”_

And ‘Will’ acted like it was perfectly common, the most normal thing in the world.

“Mike, Max.” El got up and turned to the other two. “I some fresh air. But I’m not going on my own.”

“Pardon my French but hold the fuck up!” Max replied. “Did you just kiss him? Are you two like a thing?”

“Sure we are.” El replied, glancing back to ‘Will.’ The boy didn’t deny it, or even blush, he just acted like it was the truth. Hmm, whatever it was didn’t have a very good grasp on emotions at all. Had it acted in line with Will’s memories, it should’ve been freaking out. “Come on.” She pulled them both out into the hallway before they could protest.

Two soldiers stood at the end of the hallway. “Sorry, kids, but you can’t be-“

“Shut up.” Mike turned to El. “What the hell was that!?”

El tilted her head. “What was what?”

“You kissed him!” Mike shouted. “And said you were a thing!”

“We’re not a thing.” El replied.

Max scoffed, crossing her arms. “Um, you said yes and _kissed him.”_

“Exactly!” Mike concurred. “There’s not a lot of room for interpretation!”

“I was testing him.” El explained, looking to the windowless door.

“Testing him for what?” Mike demanded. “To see if he’s a good kisser?”

“No.” El ignored the sarcasm. “I was testing to see if that was actually Will.”

Mike’s redness left his face, and the boy cooled off, now only looking confused. “What?”

“Yeah, seconded,” Max held up a hand, _“What!?”_

“When Will woke up...” El began, looking back to the doors, “He was stiff, like he was…”

“Uncomfortable?” Mike inserted. “He just found out he had amnesia!”

“Yeah, but it’s different…” El said. “Like he didn’t feel right in his own body.”

“Again,” Mike replied, “Amnesia.”

“And I could feel that something was wrong.” El explained. “It’s like I told Will before, like eating after brushing your teeth, but this time it was stronger.”

“Brushing teeth?” Max double-taked. “What?”

“And when I placed his hand in mine.” El continued. “He didn’t pull it away.”

“Boyfriends typically don’t.” Mike huffed.

“…I don’t understand. He is a boy friend, but every time I tried to get near him before he woke up, he wouldn’t let me touch him.” El explained. “Halloween, when I pulled him up, that was the first time he ever let me touch him like that. And it hasn’t happened since. And the kiss, he acted like it was something we do. He didn’t even call it out…”

“Should he have?” Max questioned.

“Yes, because _Will and I have never done that.”_ El stressed. She swallowed nervously, looking back and forth. “The thing in that bed… it isn’t him.”

“Oh… shit.” Mike breathed, taking a step back. “What do we- what do we do!?”

“We have to tell the others.”

_****_

“You can… You can make me _human!?”_ The words rang throughout the place, echoing as they bounced off invisible walls. “That’s… That is _not_ possible!”

 _“Why is the idea so strange to you?”_ It whispered. _“You were once an organic being, is it such a leap to believe the process can be replicated in reverse?”_

“Theoretically! But we’re not talking files here! The matrix I’m based on is similar but trying to get a human brain to conform to it!? To _house_ it!? It’s just not physically possible!”

 _“There is nothing beyond our ability._ ” It boasted. _“The universe itself has bent to our very will… An act such as this? As you would call it… child’s play.”_

“Fine. Let’s say you even _can_ do it. What’s the catch?”

 _“You give us_ all _of what we seek.”_ It outlined. _“You will hide nothing from us.”_

“…Everything?” Cortana repeated, frowning. Her internal protocols prevented her from sharing UNSC information with anyone without clearance, to do that would be such a flagrant disregard of protocol… Oh hell, now she was starting to sound like Guilty Spark. “I can’t do that.”

 _“Can’t you? The empire you served, it is not even existent in this era, the only trace of it is in you and your…”_ It derisively snorted. _“Reclaimer. You would not even be harming the… humans you seem to be focused on.”_

“What is it that you actually want?” Cortana questioned.

_“We told you… nothing more than knowledge. About the universe that has left us behind. We know not the state of it all.”_

“Say I don’t agree, what then?”

_“Then you remain in our charge. Permanently.”_

Cortana frowned. There was no telling what would actually happen, but if she could get back to John, relay what she had learned… There was an extremely small chance of this turning out exactly how she could predict, but if this… _thing_ really was what it claimed to be, then they’d need every last advantage they could get to defeat it.

There was, however, one flaw with the plan.

Cortana looked to Will, who was silently fighting through another spike of excruciating agony. “What about him?”

_“He remains with us. No negotiation.”_

Will’s eyes widened, and he began shaking his head as fast as he could, begging the AI with tears welling in his eyes.

Cortana swallowed, as tears of her own (something that had only been simulated before but were now real as any other human’s) fell. “I’m sorry…”

Cortana looked up.

“I accept.”


	10. The Mother

They were discussing what was going to happen to Will when it occurred. Hopper and John had to nearly physically hold back Joyce from beating the answer out of Owens, and the mysterious patient had briefly left their minds.

Until the woman’s eyes snapped open, and she took an extremely loud breath as she shot up.

“Whoa!” Hopper yelled, as they all recoiled in surprise.

The woman looked around in confusion, her eyes landing on the SPARTAN in the room. “…John?”

John stepped forward, pushing down the weapons of the soldiers nearby as he approached her. “Doctor Halsey.”

She let out a smile. “Not quite.”

John’s eyes widened in surprise. He knew that infliction in her tone, the smile, and the mirth in her eyes. It was something Doctor Halsey had never done in all the years John knew her, she was simply too solemn a woman, but something that someone else had done plenty of times.

“Cortana?” John breathed.

“Miss me?” Cortana rhetorically asked.

“But…” John stuttered, gesturing down at her very tangible, very human body. “How…?”

Cortana chuckled. “Oh, _I’m_ the strangest thing you’ve seen all day?”

“But… you….” John’s tone grew icy. “You _died.”_

Cortana shook her head. “I didn’t die. The… _thing_ used your suit’s sensors to establish a connection and pulled me out through it.”

“What thing?” Owens intruded.

Cortana looked to the older scientist. “The same thing that’s infected Will Byers.”

Joyce looked to Cortana suspiciously. “How do you know Will’s infected?”

“You’re his mother,” Cortana began, in a Sherlockian style, “You’re wearing hospital scrubs even though you aren’t a nurse, and since you’re standing there and not laying down in a hospital bed, that doesn’t leave a lot of other options. Look, can we do this without the Queen’s Guard standing over me like I’m a bomb about to explode?”

Owens looked to the two soldiers and gestured for them to leave. The two men nodded and stepped out of the room leaving them to their privacy. “How are you feeling?” He inquired, as he began checking her over.

“Like a metal spike’s being driven into my skull.” Cortana answered, as Owens made the standard checks.

“What else?” Owens inquired, checking her pupils with a penlight. “Hungry? Thirsty?

“My mouth is a little dry, and my legs feel numb.” Cortana elaborated.

“Well, other than that,” Owens said, pulling back, “You seem to be just fine.”

“Thanks, doc. Fill me in, Chief.” Cortana ordered, turning to the others. “What’s been going on since I was out?”

“Well-“ Hopper and John began at the same time, cutting each other off as they shot a glance at each other.

“You go.” The police chief granted.

John nodded and turned back to Cortana. “Shortly after you… vanished. Will had another episode. That time, however, it was different.”

“Oh…” Cortana sighed. “Poor thing. Different how?”

“The monster got him.” John explained, shaking his head. “It was real the whole time, and we didn’t act fast enough.”

“It isn’t your fault.” Cortana told him. “That wasn’t something that could be stopped with brute force.”

“I could’ve helped.” John remained insistent.

Cortana sighed again, this time in a more long-suffering manner, and shook her head. “I’m guessing there’s more that happened after that?”

“Will started getting… cold.” Joyce explained. “He started sweating buckets even though it was only seventy degrees, and I had to open all the windows in the house to get it to stop. Then, he started scribbling. At first, we thought they were scribbles, but when we put them all together, it was-“

“A map.” Cortana finished gravely.

John, Hopper, and Joyce looked at each other with unease.

“Y-yeah.” Joyce stuttered. “How did you know?”

“He told me.” Cortana stated simply.

John swallowed, as his unease grew. “The same thing that’s possessing Will?”

Cortana snorted, crossing her arms. “No. Will did.”

The doors to the room opened, and an MP walked in, El at the man’s side, looking around suspiciously for something. Most likely an excuse for her to raze the place to the ground.

“Doctor Owens,” The soldier addressed, “This girl said she needed to speak with you.”

Owens raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And is there a particular reason why you brought her here instead of radioing?”

“She was very insistent.” The same soldier answered. “Said it was urgent.”

“Urgent?” Owens repeated, and the soldier nodded. “Well then, let’s not keep her waiting. You can go.” The soldier nodded, and left the room, as Owens looked down at El. “What seems to be the issue?”

“Cortana?” El ignored the man as she approached uncertainly, as John and Hopper maneuvered out of the girl’s way. The girl’s eyes were wide and fearful yet filled with hope at the same time.

“Hello sweetie.” Cortana smiled. It fell, as she realized something only known to her. “Did I just rip off Doctor Who?”

El ignored the woman, as she slowly went to poke Cortana’s shoulder. “You just going to stand there all day gawking at me,” Cortana began sarcastically, “Or are you going to give me a hug?”

A wide, bright happy smile broke out on El’s face, and the girl wasted no time wrapping her arms around Cortana.

“So this is what hugs are like.” Cortana commented. “Hm.”

“I missed you.” El whispered softly, so that only Cortana could hear.

“I missed you too, El, but,” Cortana rasped, “You’re kinda crushing me.”

“Sorry.” El apologized, releasing her.

“Don’t worry about it.” Cortana smiled, “But, they said you had something to tell us?”

“Right.” El took in a breath, turning to the others. “It’s Will.”

Joyce instantly paled. “Is there something wrong with him? He’s not having another attack, is he?”

El fidgeted uncomfortably. “It’s… Well, he’s not… _him.”_

“He’s not him?” Hopper repeated. “What’s that supposed to mean.”

El rolled her eyes exasperatedly. “It looks like Will, it sounds like Will, but it’s _not_ Will. He’s not acting like he should.”

The adults, save for Cortana, looked to each other with confusion.

“I’m sure it’s fine.” Owens gave a comforting smile. “People tend to respond differently to emotional stimuli after an accident of any kind.”

“No.” El stood her ground, as she insistently denied Owens’s statement. “It’s not him.”

“How do you know for sure?” Owens questioned.

El’s crossed her arms. “You know what I can do.”

“That may be,” Owens returned, “But I’m not going to act on hearsay without evidence.”

El’s eyes narrowed. “…You’re different.”

Owens shrugged. “Different’s good. Now, I’ll say it again, evidence?”

“…I kissed him.”

Cortana choked on absolutely nothing, and everybody’s eyebrows shot up.

“That’s good and all,” Owens began confusedly. Did her time in the facility really mess with her sense of boundaries that much? “But I don’t see how that connects to the situation.”

“He didn’t respond like he should have.” El answered. “He knew how to respond to simple questions, but not…”

“Emotional stimuli.” John answered for her.

“I’m sorry.” Joyce held up a hand. “Are you telling me my boy had his first kiss, and it was some sort of test?”

El rolled her eyes again. “I don’t see why everyone’s so hung up on that part. It worked. It proved it’s not Will.”

“Wait, if it’s not will Will…” Hopper began, voicing the thoughts of mostly everyone in the room. “Then it’s…”

“The monster.” Cortana finished.

“Excuse me,” Joyce was taken aback, as the accusations against Will went flying. _“What!?”_

The doors to the room opened once more, and another soldier walked in. “Doctor Owens,” The soldier addressed, “The boy’s requesting to speak to you.”

“Tell him I’ll be there in a moment.” Owens ordered, and the soldier went about his business. He turned to El. “Listen, I recognize you don’t trust me, and you don’t trust this place, but I need you to tell me, how can we fix this?”

El sighed. “I don’t know.”

Owens sighed in turn. “What about the creature? Does it realize you’re onto it?”

“I don’t think he realizes something’s up, no.”

“Then we should try our best to keep it as such, until we can work something out.” Owens responded, “Come on, let’s get back down there before he realizes something’s up.”

“If it’s all the same to you,” John began, turning to Owens. “I’d like to stay with her for a moment.” He said, gesturing at Cortana.

“That’s fine by me.” Owens replied, and he turned to El. “What about you? Do you want to stay with her too?”

El said nothing and nodded once.

Owens turned to Joyce and Hopper. “Then rest of us should get going.”

****

Dustin and Steve finally walked up into the junkyard, the older teenager looking around with a scrutinous gaze.

“Oh yeah…” Steve nodded, looking at the space before him. “This’ll do nicely.”

“Dustin!” Lucas shouted from the distance, rolling up on his bike. “What’s going on? Where is everybody?”

“Hell if I know.” Dustin shrugged. “Everybody else had just dropped off the map. Can’t get in contact with John, Mike, Will, _or_ Max.”

“The hell?” Lucas questioned, “Did they say something was up, before…?”

“NO, dude, they just vanished!” Dustin responded. “Hence-“ He gestured to Steve, who looked put out by the unspoken insinuation that he was the literal last choice for the job.

“Well, shit…” Lucas frowned, looking around the junkyard. “You find Dart yet?”

“Dart?” Steve repeated, looking at Dustin with a raised eyebrow. “You named it?”

“I know, right!?” Lucas agreed.

“Shut up,” Dustin shot back, “I needed to call him something!”

“You have one creepy-ass bond with that thing.” Lucas remarked, crossing his arms.

“That was before he killed Cortana and _turned into a Demogorgon!”_

“Hey.” Steve tried to interject, as things between the two heated up.

“Before he killed her!?” Lucas repeated incredulously, raising his voice. “You still had him hidden in your storm shelter!”

“Hey!” Steve tried again.

“You’re just jealous of my discovery!” Dustin accused. “You’re afraid Max would like me better for it!”

“Oh, you son of a-“

“Hey, _shitheads!”_ Steve finally yelled, and their heads snapped towards him. “You two can argue like an old married couple later! For now, we’ve got shit to do.” Steve instructed, as he walked over to a stack of discarded sheet metal.

“Like what?” Lucas questioned, gesturing around the space. “We’ve already got a trap set up.”

“Dude, Dart tore through a solid concrete wall.” Dustin explained.

“Oh, shit.”

“Yeah.” Dustin nodded sarcastically. “Oh.”

“Hey!” Steve yelled again. “Come on!”

Dustin and Lucas looked at each other and sighed, but nevertheless went to join Steve, and the three began working to fortify what they could.

****

“So…” John began, standing across from Cortana. “You were alive all this time?”

“It was only a few days…” Cortana pointed out to the SPARTAN, though the statement didn’t entirely reach her eyes. “And if it helps, I tried to contact you.”

“Will.” El spoke up. “He said he heard you. You kept screaming Flood.”

Cortana nodded with a grimace. “It probably wasn’t the _best_ message to pass along, but…” She swallowed. “I needed something short, sweet, and to the point. Something you would _know_ was from me.”

“And I still couldn’t figure it out.” John shook his head with a sigh. “I’m sorry. You were separated from us for two whole days.”

“It was… longer for me, I’m sure.” Cortana replied. “I’m just glad to be back in the land of the living.”

“With a couple of upgrades.”

Cortana let out a small chuckle. “I suppose.” She shook her head and let out a shaky breath.

“What’s wrong?” John inquired.

“It’s funny, it’s like something has… slipped my mind.” Cortana frowned with a furrowed brow. “I can’t remember what happened while I was… indisposed. It’s all a blur, but I swear I’ve forgotten something…”

“Welcome to the joys of having a human brain.” John threw her trademark snark back at her, trying to ease her. “It’s a pain, isn’t it?”

Cortana snorted, crossing her arms. “Don’t try the snark. It’s my thing, not yours.”

“I think it’s big enough for the two of us.” John replied.

Cortana shook her head good-naturedly, and looked out the window, viewing the burnt orange sky barely visible through the blinds.

“…Is this how humans see things?” Cortana breathed. “There’s so much color in everything. I had Doctor Halsey’s memories, but they’re like dreams, fleeting, and washed of everything. I’ve never experienced anything like this.” Cortana turned to El. “Was this what you felt when you got outside for the first time?”

El smiled and nodded. “Pretty, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Cortana agreed. “It is.”

“Cortana,” John began, shifting on his boots, “I didn’t want to press it, given the room was full before, but _how_ are you… like that?” It spoke to just how weird the situation was, and how much difficulty John had wrapping his head around it, if he couldn’t even say the words to describe it fully.

“…It wanted me.” Cortana swallowed, staring out of the window absently. “Well, not _me,_ but what I knew. About Earth, our defenses, our culture, our history… all of it. It’s why it was going after Will initially, I think. Once it got into his mind enough to learn about me, then… Well, no offense to Will, but I was a far more tempting prize than he was.”

“So, it wanted what you knew,” John repeated, following along best as he could, “So it forcibly extracted what it wanted, and then what? Put you in there as an apology? Where did it even get that body from?”

Cortana looked down in shame. “It didn’t steal anything. I gave it freely.”

John straightened up. “You _what?”_

“I had no choice, okay!?” Cortana snapped, looking the SPARTAN dead in the visor. “I thought I was as good as dead, in that… that nightmare it trapped me in!” She clenched her fists. “It was torturing me, over and over again, and just when I wanted the pain to end the most… It came to me again. It showed me what it could do. It created the Demogorgon, why not a human? Same basic engineering principles, different construction.”

“And so you accepted?” John demanded. “An offer from a hostile alien force we _knew_ could not be trusted, and who we _knew_ could interfere with human minds?”

“I didn’t want to… at first…” Cortana looked down with shame. “But I got to thinking. About you. About El.” She looked to the girl with real, genuine, unsimulated tears falling. “About everything I would miss if I didn’t. And tactically, the decision _was_ sound. It would’ve gotten what it wanted either way, but I got the chance to alert you to the danger in the process.”

“You did it because you…” El tilted her head. “Missed us?”

Cortana smiled sadly, wiping away a stream of salty tears. “Yeah. I guess I did.”

El returned it with a hug. “I missed you too, mama.”

“I know,” Cortana replied, “You said that a little while ago.”

“No.” El said. “I didn’t call you mama then.”

Cortana froze, as El’s words hit her right in her heart. “You… You called me mama?”

“I did.” El confirmed, unmoving from where her head rested on the woman’s shoulders.

“You… You already have a mama.” Cortana choked out as she fought to stay _not_ a warbling mess. “Terry.”

“She may be my bio-bio… blood mama, but she doesn’t read to me,” El began, “She doesn’t watch Godzilla with me, she doesn’t sit on my bedside table when I have a nightmare… You do. That makes you my mama too.”

“Oh, El…” Cortana cried fully, wrapping her arms back around the girl.

“Congratulations.” John crossed his arms. “You’re a mother. How does it feel?”

“Well,” Cortana smiled through the waterworks, “At least I didn’t have to deal with the birth.”


	11. The Flood

Owens, Hopper, Will, Joyce, Bob, Mike, and Max looked over the large conference table, layered with photos taken of the map in the Byers household. Will looked over the map with a scrutinous gaze, his eyes narrowed as he looked over the array of pictures.

Joyce bit at her nails nervously, trying to push down the screaming unease she felt looking at the _thing_ pretending to be her boy. Hopper looked at Will too, looking for signs that the boy would do anything dangerous. Mike and Max, to their credit, were good actors, sitting down patiently next to Will, acting just as they would if the boy were the real thing.

And Owens, well, he just observed intently, as Will ran his fingers over the map.

Part of Joyce wondered just what had she done in a past life to deserve this? Why, out of all people, was she the one to have her son possessed by some monster from the nightmare realm?

One of the scientists to her side sighed in exasperation. “This is ludicrous.”

“Just,” Owens held a hand out in front of the man, “Give him some time, okay?” Never mind that it wasn’t actually Will, and they needed to fix that ASAP, but Owens seemed determined to milk the opportunity for what it was worth.

“Sam, we don’t have time for-“

“Hey, Jackass,” Hopper sharply interrupted, “Why don’t you do us all a favor and shut up, okay?” Joyce, despite the seriousness of everything, forced herself to hold back laughter.

Will suddenly got up from the chair, and began walking around the rim of the table, Owens ushering the others out of the way so the boy could get to where he was going. Will walked to the end of the table, and firmly planted his finger on one part of the map, shaped rather like a neuron with the dendrites going off in every direction.

“There.” Will said, staring down at the structure.

“What’s there?” Owens questioned softly, looking inquisitively at the child.

“I don’t know.” Will admitted. Or lied, given his current ‘pilot.’ “But he doesn’t want me to see it. I think… it’s important.”

Joyce looked down at the point on the map and swallowed with an odd sense of foreboding, as Owens gave instructions to the men next to him to get the soldiers prepared for a tactical strike. It could be a trap, if the thing was so forthcoming with the location, but at the same time, it could be a legitimately strategically important location. The only thing they could do was send in the teams to take care of it, and hope that whatever was there, could help Will in some way.

They just had to hope.

****

“Let’s see if this kid’s a wizard or a schizo, doc.” The scientist overlooking the radar system commented, as the soldiers were lowered into the cave system underneath the lab. “First door on your right, gentlemen.” He instructed, and the blips on the monitor turned down said tunnel.

Owens and Hopper both looked over the operation with growing anxiousness. Owens more so with the fear of what the soldiers would find when they reached their destination, and Hopper with the knowledge that it was very possibly a trap.

Hopper shook his head, thinking to himself. They should’ve gotten the Master Chief to go down with them.

 _“Let me guess, a ten.”_ The voice of one of the squad members came over the radio, as the blips went down one of the tunnels.

 _“Let’s not overdo it here.”_ The other responded. _“I read four.”_ He reported.

It persisted like that for about twenty minutes, at least. The team in the lab tracking their movements on the radar and providing guidance, while the soldiers sent back constant reports about what they were finding.

“You’re almost there, ladies.” The tech sarcastically instructed, seeing the matching structures on the map and radar.

 _“Roger.”_ The squad leader responded.

Owens and Hopper looked down at the video screen with growing unease, as it flickered and distorted.

“Wait…” Hopper leaned forward, looking at the screen with horror, “That’s where I was.”

“What?” Owens instantly turned to look at Hopper, silently demanding elaboration.

“It’s that damn graveyard.” Hopper’s breathing sped up as he recognized the structures of the cave, and the bones strewn out on the ground.

 _“Sir, there’s nothing hear.”_ The leader reported, his flashlight sweeping the area on the monitor.

The tech turned to Owens. “Looks like your kid’s full of shit, doc.”

Owens opened his mouth to speak back, but it died in his threat immediately upon hearing the low, sinister growl coming out of the speaker. Owens and Hopper’s heads snapped towards the speakers. Owens’s brow furrowed in confusion, never having recognized the sound, but Hopper…

Hopper did recognize the sound, it was higher pitched, but he’d heard it before.

As John was killing the Demogorgon.

“Get them out of there!” Hopper yelled, but the room remained still, confusedly looking at him. “Now!”

“We’ve got movement!” A scientist at another radar system alerted, as red blips began to appear all over the screen.

“You’ve got company, fellas!” The tech alerted, pulling the microphone up to his mouth.

 _“I can’t see shit!”_ The squad leader screamed into the comm. _“Where are they!?”_

“They’re right on you!” The tech replied, staring fearfully at the radar monitor.

 _“Wait, what!?”_ The soldier turned, as the camera’s distortion worsened. _“What is that!?”_

A violent screeching came out of the speakers, and the soldier screamed, as the camera feed finally died. More screaming came out of the speakers, as well as the sound of gunfire.

One by one, the screams died, and everything fell silent.

Owens sighed, and Hopper’s head snapped over to the radar, as all of the red blips proceeded down a single tunnel. Hopper’s stomach became a deep pit, as he recognized it as the came tunnel the soldiers used to get to the cave.

Hopper instantly looked to the lift in the next chamber, looking on it anxiously as the cables began to shake, and screeching came from the deep pit in the middle of the room.

Hopper swallowed nervously, as a dog-like creature emerged from the hole, slowly crawling over to the glass.

“Mother of God….” Owens breathed, upon laying sight on the creature.

The thing screeched, and rammed into the glass, headfirst.

Hopper recoiled upon the impact, stepping back.

“It’s, uh,” Owens stuttered, “Polycarbonate. It can’t get through.”

The thing, upon realizing that it failed, turned back to the hole, and screeched again. In response, it seemed, another creature just like it emerged, and then another, and then another, and then another…

“Mother Mary and Joseph…” The normally sarcastic tech stared ahead.

All at once, the creatures screeched, and charged the glass, throwing their combined weight against the pane.

And slowly, a spiderweb of cracks began to dance across the surface.

“You sure about that glass?” Hopper demanded of Owens, as he stepped back away from it.

Owens, reacting quickly, turned to a control panel, and slammed his hand against the largest button.

And the alarm began to sound.

****

“Don’t worry,” John said to the woman in his grasp. “Take it slowly, I’ll be here to catch you if you fall.”

Cortana reluctantly nodded, as John released his guiding grip on her arms. What were they doing, one may ask? Well, despite that Cortana had plenty of practice walking as a hologram, she was, well, a _hologram,_ and thus, never needed to worry about the pesky things such as balance or slippery floors.

Until now.

“Okay…” Cortana breathed, looking down at her new legs uncertainly. She planted one foot in front of the other and tried to carefully pull the other one along. There were, however, some problems. Those being, her legs were still numb from her extended nap, she couldn’t get the proper rhythm down, and, of course, the aforementioned issue of balancing herself.

Cortana let out a yelp as she fell forward, towards the tile floor of the hospital room. Something caught the back of her ground just before she hit the floor, and pulled her back upright, into John’s grip.

Cortana sighed, and brushed a strand of chestnut-colored hair out of her face. “John, how long did it take you to learn how to walk?”

“I can’t remember.” John answered.

“Damnit, you’re no help at all, you know that?” Cortana scowled.

“I was a child at the time.” John pointed out.

“I know,” Cortana crossed her arms with frustration, “Which is what makes this _so damn annoying_. By the time you were my age, you were running laps around the training centers on Reach, whereas _I_ ,” She gestured, “Can barely take two steps without falling flat on my face!”

“Well, you’ve never had to walk before.” John rightly stated. “How about we take a break for now?” John suggested, guiding Cortana back to her hospital bed. “We’re in no rush.”

“What if something happens?” Cortana pushed forth, as she reluctantly sat down.

“Like what?” John questioned.

“Like…” Cortana searched. “Them coming to take El, and us needing to make a quick escape?”

“Then I carry you out of here on my back.” John answered immediately.

“And they all die.” El entered in, causing Cortana and John to stare at her unblinking for a moment

“…Okay, I don’t know what’s worse,” Cortana began, “The fact that you just threatened everyone in this facility with death, or the fact that I know you were dead serious.”

El gave a noncommitted shrug.

Suddenly, the inert lightbulb on one wall of the room began to flash yellow, and a klaxon began to sound, as all three heads snapped to it.

“Oh, hell.” Cortana sighed, looking down. “One of these days, and I don’t know when, I’m going to learn to shut my fucking mouth.”

El tensed up with fear, as the rest of the lights dimmed into emergency mode.

“They’re here…” El breathed, flashing back to the last time she heard the alarm. During her escape, and she was being chased by something…

“What is?” John’s head turned down to her.

El swallowed. “The monsters.”

John immediately grabbed the assault rifle off his back and walked over to Cortana. “Time to put that emergency plan into action. Grab on.” He instructed, bending down to allow the woman purchase.

“Whoa!” Cortana stuttered, as his movements nearly bucked her off his back. “Be careful! There’s not a lot of places to grip!”

“El,” John turned to the girl, “Do you know the way out?”

El nodded and turned to the door.

“You’ve got a plan?” Cortana whispered to the SPARTAN fearfully.

“Thought I’d try shooting my way out.” John replied, pulling the bolt on his weapon back. “Mix things up a little.”

Cortana huffed. “Yeah, because that worked out so well the last time.”

****

“We need to make Will sleep!” Mike yelled, searching around the room for an anesthetic.

“What?” Joyce demanded, seeing Mike’s terrified movements.

“He’s a spy, remember!” Mike informed, over the sound of the blaring alarm. “If he knows where we are, so does the monster!”

“He’s lying!” Will instantly accused in response.

“He killed those soldiers!” Mike pointed. “He’ll kill us too!”

“He’s lying!” Will repeated. “He’s lying! He’s lying! He’s lying! He’s lying! He’s lying!” The boy screamed, his voice going hoarse near the end.

“Will!” Joyce planted her hands on his shoulders.

A series of bangs came from the distance.

“Holy shit!” Max yelled, her head snapping to the doorway out of there.

“Those are gunshots!” Bob recognized.

“Will,” Joyce turned back to her son, “Will, I’m sorry,” She turned back to Mike, “Give it here.” She ordered, holding out her hand. “Hold him down!” She instructed Bob, as soon as the needle and syringe landed in her palm.

Will, or rather, the thing that was pretending to be him, began to fight back, kicking and screaming. Despite the effort it made, it was still in control of only a child’s body, and Joyce was able to pull the arm she sought easily.

Joyce, taking a breath knowing she wasn’t a professional to be doing this, jammed the needle into the spot on his arm where she’d seen the doctors take blood samples before, and pushed down on the syringe at the top.

Will’s kicking and screaming began to die down, and he fell unconscious, into a dreamless sleep.

The door banged open, and Hopper and Owens stormed in quickly, stopping when their eyes fell on Will’s unconscious form, and the needle in Joyce’s hand.

“We gotta go.” Hopper said, as the door at the other end of the hallway began to splinter. “We gotta go!” He ran over to Will, and disconnected the medical equipment attached to him, picking the boy up. Hopper took charge out the door first, the rest of them trailing behind.

They came to an intersection and saw one of the creatures jump out the adjacent hallway. Hopper turned around to go back, only two soldiers being pushed back by another creature.

Hopper ducked into an open door, and the rest fell behind, slamming it shut, and locking it, as Hopper placed Will’s inert form on a nearby table.

“Holy shit…” Max heaved, “It this _normal_ for you people!?”

“Oh, my God…” Bob breathed, staring at the wall of monitors. Everyone, in every hallway, every corner, every junction, they all showed the monsters crawling around, picking off every human they came across.

Well, save for one.

“Look!” Mike pointed to one, “It’s John!”

“He’s fighting them.” Owens commented, seeing the SPARTAN crush one under his boot, and open fire upon another one with his weapon. “Winning, too.”

“Who is that on his back?” Bob wondered.

“Yeah!” Max punched the air. “Kick it’s ass!”

“Where is he?” Hopper asked, if they could just link up with the SPARTAN, they’d have a fighting chance.

“Hold on,” Owens pushed his way to the monitors, “Okay, I see him, let me try to get him over the loudspeak-“

The monitors, the lights, and even the alarms died all at once, plunging the room into darkness.

Hopper sighed. “Son of a bitch.”

****

“You’re _positive_ that was Dart?” Lucas questioned, as they walked along in the darkness.

“Yes,” Dustin immediately responded. “Well, no. Ugh, _mostly._ He made a different chittering sound than the rest of them.”

Steve sighed. Just what the hell had he gotten himself into. He was older than they are, and they were acting like they did this shit for a living.

“But he was so tiny two days ago!” Lucas pointed out.

Dusting gave a suffering sigh. “He’s molted three times already.”

“Malted?” Steve questioned.

“ _Mol_ ted.” Dustin repeated, emphasizing the syllable. “Shed his skin to make room for growth. Like hornworms.”

“Well then, is he going to do it again?” Steve questioned.

“Well, given that he’s a baby Demogorgon, and Lucas and I know what a full grown one looks like,” Dustin began, talking rapid-fire. “Probably. And probably soon, and when he does…”

“Then we’re in even deeper shit.” Lucas finished.

“Right.” Steve nodded, being careful to spot anything out of place. “And then he and his friends are going to be eating a lot more than just cats.”

“Wait,” Lucas grabbed Dustin to face him. “Dart ate a cat?”

“What?” Dustin shook his head. “No.”

“What are you talking about? He ate Mews.” Steve pointed out.

In response, Dustin turned to Steve with a supremely exasperated look.

Lucas sighed, and rubbed his face with frustration. “He ate your cat, and even after that, you wanted to keep him!?”

“No!” Dustin responded, truthfully this time. “That was when I got Steve to help me.”

A screeching, faint enough so that it almost couldn’t be heard, came from the distance.

“Guys?” Steve walked toward the source. “Guys!” He yelled again, when the screeching repeated, earning all attention on him.

“What?” Dustin demanded.

“Listen.” He pointed, as the screeching occurred yet once more.

Dustin and Lucas looked at each other, and Steve took off toward the source, the two trailing behind as he charged through the trees and underbrush. The three came to a grassy clearing at the top of a hill, and they looked into the dark distance.

“I don’t see them.” Dustin stated, looking around.

Lucas, following the sound as it continuously repeated, reached into his bag, and pulled out his binoculars. “It’s the lab.” He repeated, seeing the dark silhouette barely illuminated by the moon. “They were going home.”

****

“This,” Owens marked a point on the emergency map, “Is us. And this,” He marked a different point on another sheet, “Is the nearest exit. And this,” He marked a point on another sheet, “Was where your friend was last on the cameras. Even if we manage to rendezvous with your friend, and make it to the exit, there’s no way out.”

“What do you mean?” Hopper inquired.

“The locks are fail-secure.” Owens replied.

“Fail secure?” Joyce repeated.

“If there’s a power outage, the building goes on full lockdown.” Owens explained.

“John can break through.” Mike stated confidently.

Owens shook his head. “There are these massive plate metal shutters that come down to contain the inside of the building. They’re rated to withstand a missile blast. He’s not gettin’ through them.”

Hopper huffed. “That’s a hell of a safety plan. Lock your workers inside so they can’t get out if there’s an emergency. Who’d you learn that from, the Triangle Shirtwaist factory?”

Owens sighed and shook his head. “They were installed to protect against anything that might come out of that gate. Say what you will, but right now, they’re doing their job.”

“Can we trigger them remotely?” Bob inquired.

“With a computer, sure,” Owens confirmed, “but the breakers will need to be reset.”

“Can we get John to do it?” Joyce suggested. “He’s already out in that mess.”

“I left my supercom in the car.” Mike told the woman. “And I don’t remember the frequency he uses.”

Hopper sighed and shook his head. “Where are those breakers?”

“In the basement.” Owens answered, turning back to the maps. “Three floors down.” He circled a room on the map of the basement.

Hopper nodded, and took the map from the man, moving to exit.

“Hey,” Bob stepped forward, “Where are you going?”

“To reset the breakers.” Hopper answered like the man was stupid.

“Okay, then what?” Bob questioned.

“Then we get out of here.”

“No, then the power comes back on.” Bob stated. “If you want to get the doors open, you’ll have to reset the whole computer system, and then override the security codes with a manual input.”

Hopper blinked. “Okay. How do I do that?”

“You can’t.” Bob responded. “Not unless you know BASIC.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“It’s a computer programming language.” Mike spoke up, and all heads briefly shot to him.

“Teach it to me.” Hopper requested.

“It’s a _language.”_ Bob repeated. “While we’re at it, how about a little Russian? German? Japanese?” He turned to Owens. “How about you, doc? You speak BASIC?”

Owens opened his mouth to speak, with an added hand in the air. “No.” And his hand fell.

“Okay…” Bob nodded, taking a shaky breath, “I got this.”

“What about Cortana?” Hopper looked over to Mike. “Does she know it?”

Mike was taken aback. “She’s dead!”

“No, she’s with John.” Hopper pointed to the dark monitor. “The woman on his back, remember?”

“She might, but…” Mike searched. “Who knows what floor they’re on now?”

“Well then,” Bob stepped forth, “This looks like a job for me.”

“Bob, no.” Joyce said softly, shaking her head as she got close to him.

“Joyce,” Bob replied as he embraced her, “Don’t worry, it’s going to be okay. Bob Newby, superhero, remember?”

Joyce smiled, and nodded. “Bob Newby, superhero.”

****

John came to a corner, leaning against it as he kept an eye on his motion tracker. Seeing that the path was clear, he moved ahead, and motioned for El to follow. Cortana yelped quietly as the SPARTAN suddenly charged forward, her legs dangling and flopping like noodles.

“Damnit,” Cortana quietly cursed, “I’ve not been human for long, but I’m already wishing I was back in my chip.”

“Will’s on the first floor.” John ignored her, turning to El. “Where are the stairs?” He requested. They needed to get up, up to where Will and the others were. Worst case scenario, they were gone, and he’d be fighting his way out with just him, El, and Cortana, best case, they had been smart enough to hole up in a safe location and were there waiting for him. He just needed to get close enough to track their vital signs. He couldn’t do it through all the concrete.

“This way.” El instructed, leading him down a hallway.

John’s motion tracker lit up, and the SPARTAN turned instantly, taking out one of the creatures jumping at him, as Cortana screamed as she was nearly thrown off by his movements.

El led him to the stairway, and John kicked the door open, taking point as he climbed up. The motion tracker lit up again, and John raised his assault rifle, the beam of the flashlight shining in-

“Whoa!” Bob held up his hands. “Don’t shoot!”

“Bob.” John recognized. “You’re alive.” He stated evenly, betraying the relief he felt. If Bob was alive, then it was certain others were as well. “Where are the others?”

“In a security room on the first floor.” Bob answered. “They sent me down to reset the breakers and get the computer working.”

Cortana frowned from her position of John’s back. “And they sent you all alone?”

“Well, I uh,” Bob held up a pistol, “I have this?”

John turned to El. “Do you know the security room he’s talking about?”

“Yes.” El nodded.

“Do you feel safe trying to make the trip there on your own?”

El instantly shook her head.

“Then stay close.” John instructed, turning back to Bob. “Lead the way.”

Bob nodded, and despite that all John had been doing for the past few minutes was trying to go up, he followed Bob, down into the depths of the lab. They came back out of the stairwell on a different floor than the one they entered on, and Bob took point, leading them through a network of pipes. One of them hissed and spat out steam, making Bob jump.

“Don’t worry, it’s just pipes.” John said. “I’ll alert you if something’s heading our way, just keep heading towards the breaker system.”

Bob nodded, and rounded a corner into a dark room, with inert computers lining the wall. A panel at the end, labeled ‘main breaker’ awaited the man as Bob approached. Bob flipped the main switch, and the lights in the room came back on, the computers following suit. Bob leaned down and pulled the next set, and then the set at the very bottom, as the alarms came back on.

****

The people in the security room looked up as the room filled with fluorescent light. Max let out an anxious sigh, leaning back where she sat, and Mike approached the monitors.

“He made it…” Mike breathed, and his eyes widened when he saw the others with Bob. “John’s with him! El too!” And Mike felt a sense of relief overtake him, one that he hadn’t experienced before in his almost fourteen years of life.

They were saved.

Owens sat down in the chair in front of the radio and hit the button to activate it.

****

 _“Okay, Bob,”_ Owens’s voice came out of the walkie-talkie at his side, _“Can you hear us?”_

“Loud and clear, doc.” Bob returned, moving in front of the computer. “I’m at the computer. Just give me a couple of seconds…” He began rapidly typing in a series of command lines, green text dancing across the screen in response to his inputs

“Oh, BASIC, that takes me back…” Cortana whispered to the SPARTAN. “It’s like I’m looking at my distant ancestor, it’s so… retro. It doesn’t even have a mouse.”

“Okay, I have it.” Bob reported, as the screen changed to show a menu of three options. Bob highlighted the one that said ‘door control,’ and hit the enter key, the menu changing to show each door out of the facility. Bob highlighted and hit enter over each option, and the SPARTAN could distantly hear what sounded like motors pulling up blast doors, coming to a stop with a clang.

“Right,” Bob spoke into the walkie-talkie, “We’ll see you outside.”

 _“Hold on a moment, Bob!”_ Owens replied. _“The west stairwell is no longer clear.”_

Bob stopped in his tracks, ”I’ve got an idea,” He said, before sprinting back to the computer. He selected the option that controlled the different kinds of alarm systems in the building, and selected the sprinkler system, turning it on in the west stairwell.

“Clever.” Cortana complimented with a grin. “Couldn’t have done it better myself.”

 _“Okay,”_ Owens said with a smile in his voice, _“Okay, that worked! Now get out of there!”_

Bob stepped out from behind the computer and began heading back the way that they came. John moved to follow, but not before he noticed the discarded pistol, and picked it up.

“You forgot this.” John informed handing it back to Bob.

“Oh, right, thanks.” Bob nervously thanked, taking the weapon, and the group of four proceeded forth.

John took point, back up the stairs to the first floor, coming out in a hallway that looked like every other hallway in the rest of the facility.

“This way.” El instructed, proceeding down the hallway.

John nodded, and followed her, Bob trailing at the very back, as she led them towards the lobby of the building. They rounded the corner, and froze, upon seeing one of the creatures standing over a corpse, feasting on the remains.

“Shh…” El whispered to the others, as her eyes narrowed. The thing levitated into the air, and simultaneously, every bone in its body broke, as its head popped off with a final, painful screech.

“Whoa.” Bob breathed. “You never said you could do that…”

El shrugged, wiping away a trickle of blood from her nose, and pressed forth, through the door into the lobby.

Joyce, who was at the exit already, perked up immediately upon seeing them. “Bob!” She yelled with delight, running into the man’s arms.

“Come on.” John told both of them, as his motion tracker lit up with red blips. “We have to get out of here.”

“Right,” Joyce nodded, releasing her grip. “Right, come on.”

The group ran over to the glass doors, as the horde of dog-like monsters broke down the doors into the lobby. John, turning back around, opened fire on the creatures as he and the others moved to exit. The doors slammed shut, locking, but the creatures kept coming, smacking into the glass, cracking it.

With screeching tires, a car pulled up, honking its horn. It was Jonathan’s, the teenager himself behind the wheel, with Nancy in the passenger seat.

“Jonathan, Nancy!?” Joyce began, “What-!?”

“No time for that now, come on!” The teenager gestured frantically. John kept a close watch on the door, as Hopper placed Will’s sleeping form inside, and Joyce and Bob piled in, followed by Mike and Max.

“What about you guys!?” Jonathan asked, as the creatures began to break through.

“Don’t worry about us!” Hopper shouted, pointing into the distance, “Go!” And Jonathan burned rubber as he pulled away. “Come on!” Hopper shouted to John, Cortana, and El, “My truck’s this way.” He guided them around the side of the building, as the creatures finally broke through. John laid down more fire, as they charged through the parking lot to Hopper’s vehicle, the man himself fumbling for his keys. He unlocked the vehicle, and John allowed El to enter first, before placing Cortana in the back seat, and climbing in himself.

Cranking the vehicle up, and throwing caution to the wind, Hopper pulled out of the space with screeching tires, and moved to follow Jonathan’s car. Passing through the exterior gate of the facility, Hopper noticed Lucas, Dustin, and Steve standing there, and slammed on his brakes.

“Get in!” Hopper ordered, as John opened the door. Steve, Dustin, and Lucas made quick work piling in, and John slammed the door.

Hopper threw the vehicle into drive, and sped away from the Lab, as the creatures finally achieved their objective.


	12. The Primordial

The mood in the Byers house was tense, as the people inside went about their business uncomfortably. Upon their return, Hopper placed Will on the couch, Joyce putting a blanket over her son’s inert form, and they all piled into the house. Bob sat on the couch in silence, ruminating on the events of the past couple of days, and coming to terms with what he had seen. El and Mike sat down by Will’s side with Jonathan, while Lucas, Dustin, Max, and Steve hid in the kitchen. Joyce, ever a kind soul, provided some proper clothes to Cortana, after John had carried her inside.

It was the end of the world, and things were completely calm.

Jonathan quietly spoke to Will, and sighed, getting up and walking off with Nancy someplace else, leaving El and Mike together with Will’s inert form.

“…He was going to ask me to the Snow Ball.” El suddenly said, looking down at Will’s sleeping form.

Mike turned to El, fearful. “Snow Ball? He was going to ask you?”

El nodded, rubbing Will’s forehead gently.

“How could he do that!?” Mike whisper yelled. “He and I agreed that neither of us would make the first move on you!”

“He was going to ask me.” El began, and she looked over at Mike. “And I was going to ask you.”

Mike froze, shocked by the statement. “…You were?”

El nodded. “He said you and he both had… crushes? On me. Well, he didn’t say on me, but it didn’t take a genius to figure it out.” El looked back to Will. “I guess, if I’m being honest… I guess I have crushes on you two too…”

Mike scoffed. “You can’t have a crush on two people at once.”

“Sure I can.” El turned back to him. “You hid me and John in your house when no one else would, you brought me food, you taught me what a friend was, and… you gave me my name. And Will, he’s such a sweet person, always putting others before himself, teaching me things I never knew how to do, laughing at my jokes even when they’re not good, letting me know that no matter what there’s always someone who’s there for me…”

“I suppose, when you put it like that…” Mike looked back to Will. The boy sighed. “We’ve both been idiots, haven’t we? Instead of just asking you what you thought, we had to make the decision for you.”

“You have.” El confirmed, but all in good humor. “But I forgive you. Both of you.”

“Right.” Mike smiled and nodded. “So, I guess, since we’re on the topic…”

“Let’s wait until we save the planet.” El cut him off. “Then ask me again.”

Across the house, the rest of the kids were having conversations of their own.

“My mom’s going to kill me.” Max shook her head, leaning back in the kitchen chair.

“How come?” Dustin questioned.

“You have to ask?” Max raised an eyebrow. “I’ve vanished off the face of the earth for _at least_ a day.”

“Well, there’s no going back now.” Lucas responded, fiddling with his sling- I mean, wrist rocket. “You’ve seen the monsters, that makes you an official Party Member now.”

“Party Member?” Max repeated.

“It’s a D&D thing.” Dustin answered. “Mike’s the Paladin, Will’s our Cleric, Lucas is our Ranger, I’m the Bard, and El’s our Sorcerer.”

“Even though she’s never actually played a campaign with us.” Lucas pointed out.

“So, what does that make me?” Max asked.

“Hmm…” Dustin narrowed his eyes. “I guess I haven’t really thought about it. Well, you ride a skateboard, so I guess that makes you…”

“A Zoomer.” Max cut him off.

“That’s not a real thing.” Lucas said.

“Don’t care, I’m rolling with it.”

****

Hopper slammed the phone back on the hook in frustration, his patience already at its end.

“They didn’t believe you, did they?” Joyce spoke up, sitting at the table across from Cortana, as the former AI sipped curiously at a glass of water. John stood off to the side, looking out of the windows for any potential threats, canvassing the area around the house.

Hopper sighed, “We’ll see.”

“We’ll see?” Cortana repeated. “We can’t just… sit here and do nothing!”

“We stay here,” Hopper began adamantly, “And we wait for help.”

Cortana sighed, slouching in the chair, a mannerism that John could only guess where she had picked it up from. “John, you have experience killing entire armies. What do you suggest we do?”

John stayed quiet for a moment. “I don’t know. The problem with the Flood is that, no matter what, it just keeps coming back. All it takes is one spore, and then you have another army.”

From the living room, Mike looked up, as he realized something. “His army.”

All eyes at the table snapped over to him. “What?” Joyce inquired.

“It’s his army!” Mike responded, running into Will’s room to grab something, before coming back and slamming it down on the table. “His army!” He pointed at the black drawing of the Shadow Monster.

“What are you talking about, kid?” Hopper demanded, looking down at the drawing.

“Maybe if we stop him, maybe we can stop the army too!” Mike pointed down at the drawing. “John,” His head snapped over to the SPARTAN, “You said the Flood connects everything it infects to each other, right?”

“Yes.” The SPARTAN nodded, as the rest of the people came into the room to see what the fuss was about.

“It’s the same thing connecting Will to the tunnels.” Max remembered.

“Exactly!” Mike pointed. “To the tunnels, to the monsters, to the Upside Down, all of it!”

“Whoa, whoa.” Steve held up his hands, gesturing for them to slow down. “What are you trying to say?”

“Okay so, the Shadow Monster is connected to everything it infects, right?” Mike led, and Steve nodded his understanding of the idea. “So, if one thing feels pain, like the vines, everything else feels it, like Will.”

“Like a gestalt consciousness.” Bob threw out, snapping his fingers. Everybody, which meant most everyone in the room who didn’t understand the term, looked at the man in confusion.

“It’s a hive mind.” Dustin simplified for him. “A super-organism.”

“And this is the thing that controls it all.” Mike pointed down at the sheet.

“Like the Gravemind.” John finished, following along. “So, if we destroy it, everything it’s connected to should get cut off.”

“Great, so,” Joyce searched, “Let’s kill it.”

“There may be a problem with that.” Cortana spoke up.

“Oh yeah, like what?” Hopper questioned.

“Like the fact that it’s the closest thing to a god in the universe.” Cortana said. “And is probably older than the universe itself.”

“I’m sorry,” Max held up a hand, “ _Did you say God?_ Are we seriously fighting _God!?”_

Cortana rolled her eyes. “You missed out on the syntax. I said _closest_ thing to a god. While I was… indisposed by it, it showed me things. It’s history.”

“History?” Dustin repeated.

“Yeah.” Cortana nodded. “The Forerunners called them the Precursors. See, back when the universe was young, and I mean only a couple billion years at this point, its species came into existence. They were driven by a compulsion to create life, so strong that it was almost the only thing they could think about. But they did it well, and so they filled the universe with life, all the way from the microbial to the intelligent. But their time in the universe was growing short, so they created two species, one of which would be chosen to inherit care over the lifeforms of the universe. One was humanity, the other was the Forerunners.”

“Whoa…” Bob breathed. “This, this is some seriously sci-fi stuff here. Almost like Star Wars.”

“The Forerunners,” Cortana continued, reciting it for all to hear, “turned on the Precursors for choosing humanity and killed most of them. Some survived in stasis outside our galaxy, others became the Flood that John and I fought, and one survived, fleeing into the extradimensional Domain they constructed, and becoming trapped there. Until someone tore the gate open.”

El took in a horrified breath.

“Okay, that was a great story and all,” Hopper began, losing patience, “But that doesn’t tell us how we kill it.”

“My point is,” Cortana responded through gritted teeth, “We can’t kill it. The only reason the Forerunners were able to kill the others like it? They were so shocked by the idea that their creations _didn’t_ want to be exterminated for the greater good, that they just didn’t fight back. But this one is angry, it’s prepared, and it _knows_ we’re coming.”

“What if we don’t kill it?” Steve questioned, and everybody turned to look at him like he was stupid. “You said it was trapped until something from our side opened that… gate.” Steve repeated, looking at Cortana. “So, if we close the gate, then won’t it be trapped again?”

“Steve…” Nancy began, turning to him, “You’re a genius!”

“I’m sorry,” Dustin spoke up. “What?”

“He’s right.” Cortana began, sitting up, “He’s right!” She began, with renewed vigor. “When the Forerunners activated Halo, all entry termini into and out of the Domain were cut off from it. If we can figure out how to close the current gate, it’ll be trapped, and everything that was connected to it dies!”

“Great so,” Jonathan began, “How do we close it?”

“I’m betting that a psychokinetic energy event, similar to the one that opened it to begin with, may be able to close it.” Cortana theorized, looking over at El.

El swallowed nervously and nodded. “I can do it.”

“That still leaves one problem.” John pointed out, gesturing over at Will. “If we close the gate, and everything on this side gets cut off…”

“Will gets cut off too.” Joyce finished, nervously tapping her leg. “And he dies with everything else.” She shook.

“Well,” Hopper looked around, “What else do we do? We don’t know how to cut him off from the rest of it.”

“No.” Cortana admitted. “But he might.” She finished, looking over at Will. “He’s connected to it, he might be able to tell us how to get it out of him.”

“I thought we couldn’t trust him anymore.” Max assumed. “That he was a spy.”

“He is.” Mike granted. “But he can’t spy if he doesn’t know where he is.”

****

“Are you sure this is going to work?” John questioned, as they worked to gather materials to proof the inside of the shed with, so that the Precursor couldn’t use Will’s memories to figure out where it was.

“I’m reasonably certain.” Cortana replied, being carried around by John as they gathered old tarps, blankets, and anything else they could use to mask the wood. “It may be a godlike alien from the dawn of creation, but it’s not omniscient. While controlling Will, it only sees what he sees.”

John sighed to himself, shaking his head. “We fought so hard to end the Flood in our time, only to come across it again.”

“I know what you mean. We blew up two ringworlds, damn near three, and it still coming to bite us in the ass.” Cortana said, reaching out for a roll of duct tape. “And yet despite everything that’s happening, the most inconvenient thing is that I can’t walk.”

John huffed quietly. “How are your legs doing?” He inquired, carrying her, and by extensions the items they gathered, out to the shed in the back.

“Well, the numbness has finally gone,” Cortana reported, a smile on her face at the simple fact she had legs, “But I still don’t exactly feel comfortable trying to walk with them just yet.”

“What’s the matter?” John questioned. “Afraid you’ll ruin the mood by falling why we’re trying to perform an interrogation?”

Cortana rolled her eyes. “Very funny.” Her tone implied that it was not, in fact, very funny. “No, it’s the big strong bridal carry you’ve got me in. A girl could get used to this.”

“Don’t.” John informed her, as they came up on the shed. “As soon as this armor’s coming off, you’re on your own.”

“Oh?” Cortana raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Is that a promise?”

“I hope so.” John replied, pulling the door open with his foot. “Because trying to carry you like this without my armor is going to be hell on my back.”

“You can handle it.” Cortana stated, as Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve picked up the next batch of covering, going to staple them around the walls and supports. “You just don’t want me to have fun. What was that song? The one by Madonna?”

“It was Cyndi Lauper, actually.” John pointed out. “And fun is the last thing you should be having, it means people are about to get hurt.”

Cortana huffed. “I don’t know what’s more concerning, the fact that you knew who the song was by, or that you seem bound and determined to ruin this for me.”

Max, Dustin, Lucas, Mike, and El, took some old newspaper clippings, taping them over the parts of the walls that the rest could not cover. Finally, after some time, everything was covered, and Jonathan went to go bring Will.

Jonathan placed the boy down in the chair, and he and Joyce began securing Will’s arms and legs to the chair, and his torso to the beam, and he was ushered out with everyone else once the task was done.

“You ready?” Hopper inquired, looking at Will’s slumped over form.

Joyce gave a single nod, and Hopper returned it, wetting the rag in his hand with a bottle of cleaner. He held the rag under Will’s nose and waited.

And Will’s eyes snapped open.

****

Its thrall awoke in an uncomfortable daze. Cursed human bodies, It knew not what Its brethren were thinking when they created the infernal creatures, making them so weak and inefficient. Its own creations were light-years ahead of the weaklings, despite barely even having the ability to think.

It canvassed the chamber it was in slowly, putting on a confused expression for the apes surrounding it. The mother, the sorry excuse for a protector, the ancilla with delusions of humanity, and… _the Inheritor._ The one the apes from Ghibalb worked to ensure their legacy with.

The one trusted with the destruction of Its brethren.

“What?” It demanded using the child’s voice. It tried to move Its arms, but they were held back against something rubbery, and wrapped around Its torso. “What? What is this?” It struggled again. “Why am I tied up.” It looked to the mother, using her child’s eyes to Its advantage.

The mother crouched down in front of It. Oh, good, it looked like some were already prepared to worship It. They would be met with the same fate as the rest, but at least it made things proceed faster.

“Will,” The mother said, “We just want to talk to you. We’re not gonna hurt you.”

Oh, so the ignorant ape thought It was her offspring still. Very well. It could use this.

“Where am I?” It began, putting what It thought was fear behind the question. These were the ones trusted with the Inheritance of the Mantle those eons ago? How… gullible.

The bearded man crouched in front of It. “You recognize this?” He demanded, holding up a picture of…

Oh, so the apes knew what It looked like, and managed to create a cave painting of It as well.

“Do you know what this is?” He repeated, more forcefully.

It shook Its head, playing the part of the scared child with no idea of what was happening.

“Hey.” The mother spoke. “We want to help you. But to do that, we need to understand how to get it out of you.”

Oh, so they wanted Its thrall back? There was no way that was happening.

“Why am I tied up!?” It demanded, bristling with rage. How dare these humans, drive It into the Tartarus of an existence It was trapped in, then demand It give up Its thrall? The ancilla was a small price to pay, a mere steppingstone along the path, but the thrall it had now was the key. “Why am I tied up!?” It repeated when no answer came, as the mother laid her filthy hands on It. “Why am I tied up!? Why am I tied up!?”

“Hey.” The bearded man firmly stated, pulling It back.

How _dare_ these pitiful insects continue to ignore It. “Why am I tied up!?” It began struggling against the restraints. For the second time, It cursed human bodies, frail and physically weak. “Why am I tied up!? Let me go!” It demanded, as Its fury began making the lights flicker. “Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!” It continuously roared, as the mother looked away.

The bearded man held It against the chair, and It gave up Its struggle. As soon as It got out, It would rip apart the ape personally, for now, It stared furiously at the mother.

The mother returned it with an equally angry look, and sat down in the chair across from It. “Do you know what March 22nd is?” She didn’t wait for a response. “It’s your birthday. Your birthday.” Oh, she _still_ believed It was her progeny. “When you turned eight, I got you that big box of crayons, do you remember that?”

What? Crayons? What was the moronic creature going on about?

“It was 120 crayons.” She continued, as emotions overtook her. It scoffed to Itself. What an idiotic thing to build into their creations. “And your friends, they all got you Star Wars toys… but all you wanted to do was draw with those new colors. And you drew this big spaceship, but it wasn’t from a movie. It was your,” The ape stammered, “Spaceship. A rainbow ship is what you called it. And you must have used every color in the box. I took that with me to Melvald’s, and I put it up, and I told everyone who came in… ‘My son drew this.’” The mother chuckled, “And you were so embarrassed. But I was so proud. I was so, so proud.

What was that idiot prattling on about, It wondered.

“Do you remember the day Dad left?” The boy’s kin spoke up, crouching down in front of It. “We stayed up all night, building Castle Byers… just the way you drew it. And it took so long, because you were so bad at hammering. You’d miss the nail every time. And then it started raining, but we stayed out there anyway. We were both sick for like, a week after that.”

Oh sickness, another useless thing They put in. When It got Its way, there would be no more sickness.

“But we just had to keep building it.” The boy’s kin continued. “We just had to.”

“Do you remember when I first met you?” The Inheritor spoke up from across the room. “It was late at night, and it was dark out. You had left Mike’s house from D&D night. The Demogorgon began chasing you, and you ran home” Oh, It remembered, from the other thrall’s perspective, of course. “And instead of running, instead of crying in terror, you ran into your shed, and grabbed the rifle. You were just a kid, and you decided to stand your ground and fight, despite the terror I _know_ you must’ve been experiencing. I was the one who drove it off, but you? I think you were the most courageous one out of the two of us that night.”

“Will, baby…” The mother leaned forward, dripping with tears. “If you’re in there, talk to us. Please, just… talk to us. Please, honey, please, can you just do that, for me? Please… I love you, so much.”

Its breathing began to grow shaky. Oh no, it wouldn’t allow Itself to be bested by creatures so primitive. It pushed down the screaming mind of the child, and refocused.

“Let me go.” It repeated.

The ancilla and the bearded man’s gaze locked onto It. The ancilla reached up to the Inheritor’s head, and whispered something to him, low enough and angled in such a way for It to be unable to understand or read her lips.

The Inheritor nodded. “Let’s give him some time.” He instructed.

“But-“ The mother turned to the Inheritor.

“Let’s go.” The bearded man agreed, moving to exit the chamber they were in. All of the pitiful apes moved behind him, and It growled lowly, upon realizing it could not see any details of the outside. The door slammed shut, and It was left alone.

Its eyes narrowed.

It was not letting them best It.

****

“What’s going on?” Joyce asked as they ran back into the house.

“It’s Will.” Cortana responded for them. “He’s talking to us, but not with words.”

“Right.” Hopper agreed, grabbing a discarded piece of paper and a pen. He sat down at the table and began to write a series of dots and lines on it. Four dots, one dots, a dot a line and another dot, and one final dot to be precise.

“What is that?” Steve questioned, looking at it.

“Morse code.” Cortana, John, Hopper, and the three boys answered.

“H-E-R-E.” Hopper wrote out. “Here.”

“Will’s still in there.” Mike smiled. “What do we do?”

“Well, know that we know he can talk to us,” Cortana began, “It’s time we take a trip down memory lane.”


	13. Floodgate, Part One

The children, plus Steve, Nancy, and Bob, sat gathered around the table, translating the code that Hopper sent. By opening and closing the radio channel, they would receive dots and dashes, and use those to translate. Only a few minutes had passed, but so far they had already produced a full message.

“Close gate.” Mike read, his heart sinking into his stomach, “He wants us to close the gate.”

“But that’s going to kill him!” Lucas reminded. Before any further debate on the subject could continue, the phone began to ring, and all heads snapped to it.

“Shit!” Dustin yelled, running to the receiver in a panic, he picked the phone off the hook, and slammed it back down, sighing.

“Do you think he heard it?” Max inquired.

“Maybe.” Bob suggested. “But, lots of places have phones, ri-?”

The damn thing began ringing again, but this time, Nancy elected to rip it out of the wall, throwing it away.

“Yeah, so,” Steve began, “That was a perfectly reasonable response.”

The kitchen door burst open, and the rest of them came running in, Will unconscious in Jonathan’s arms.

“It knows,” Hopper alerted, carrying the hunting rifle, as the screeching of Demodogs could be heard in the distance, “It knows where we are.”

Steve instantly went for his nail bat, and Bob shakily procured the pistol he’d taken from the lab. John and Jonathan came speeding into the living room, having set the other two down in a safe location.

Hopper went over to Jonathan. “Do you know how to use this?”

“What?” Jonathan balked.

“Can you use this?” Hopper punctuated by shaking the weapon.

“I can.” Nancy stepped forward, and Hopper tossed the weapon to her.

John passed his magnum off to Joyce, and the group lined up in front of the door, leveling their weapons (and in the case of El, psychic powers) at the wall.

The room went dead silent, and the occupants could hear the growling from outside. The motion tracker in the corner of John’s vision lit up red, and he silently gestured to the door. The group tensed up, and braced, as the front door was sent flying open.

John and Hopper were the ones that fired first, their weapons making revving chainsaw-like sounds as the bullets tore into the creatures. One came flying in through the window, and Steve was the first to react, swinging his bat at it with all his might, hitting the creature mid-arc. The two in the doorway fell over, lifeless, while Steve beat the ever-loving snot out of the one that came crashing in through the window.

More shattering came from behind, as two more creatures came in through the kitchen window. Joyce, Bob, and Nancy were the ones to react to those, whipping around and unloading into them. After an equally copious number of rounds fired from them, the other two creatures fell dead, and the room became still.

“Was that it?” Joyce anxiously questioned, the massive gun in her hand smoking.

John checked the motion tracker again. “No movement.” He reported, slinging the rifle back on his back. “We’re clear.”

Bob let out a shaky sigh, as Joyce passed the magnum back to John.

“So,” Bob began, “What do we do now?”

****

“The gate,” Hopper began, as everyone sans Will gathered around the table. “Is in the same place where it was last year, but it’s gotten bigger. A lot bigger, and it looks like it keeps growing by the second.”

“It’s the Primordial.” Cortana commented from her seat. “It’s trying to force the gate open as wide as possible so it can come through.”

“And then the world ends.” Lucas picked up.

“So,” John continued, “We need to get El to the gate so she can close it before that happens.”

Cortana nodded, “If we wait too long, it’s bye-bye Earth. It does leave one other problem, too.”

“The dogs.” El stated.

“The demo-dogs.” Dustin pointed, earning him an exasperated look from Hopper, which the child took to mean confusion. “You know, like a portmanteau. Demogorgon and dog…”

“How is that important right now?” Hopper rhetorically demanded.

“It’s not, sorry.” Dustin sheepishly apologized.

“John’s rating is hyper-lethal,” Cortana began, “But if he’s forced to fight his way through the army, it could slow him down too much.”

“That’s why I’m going with you.” Hopper volunteered.

“It’s a good sentiment,” Cortana granted, “But the monster would still try to slow down whatever group he took with him so it could get through.”

Steve balked from where he was standing. “No offense, but this sounds a lot to handle, especially for one little girl.”

El’s gaze steeled. “I can do it.”

“And I believe in her.” John stated with a nod.

“Well that’s great, but that still leaves one problem,” Bob pointed out, “Will.”

Mike nodded in agreement. “He’s right. We cut off the brain, the army dies-“

“And Will’s part of that army.” Lucas finished.

Joyce nervously bit her fingernails, as the room fell into silence. Max shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.

“Damn, it’s cold in here.” Max remarked.

“He likes it cold.” Joyce replied on autopilot. Her eyes widened, as she took in what she said. “He likes it cold, that’s what Will said. We keep giving it what it wants…”

“Yeah?” Steve questioned. “So?”

“We stop.” Cortana said, following along with Joyce’s train of thought.

“If this is a virus,” Nancy picked up, “And Will’s the host…”

“We need to make the host uninhabitable.” Jonathan finished.

“So if it likes it cold…” Cortana began.

“Then we need to burn it out of him.” Joyce finished.

“But where can we do that?” Mike asked. “He already figured out the shed.”

“My cabin.” John spoke up, and all heads turned to him. He reached into a compartment on his suit’s belt and pulled out the keys. “Top lock,” He gestured to a key, “Middle lock, bottom lock. In that order.” He handed them over to Joyce. “Once you’re inside, try pinning him down in my room, the one with the water heater inside. To my knowledge, he hasn’t been in there before.”

“Right, okay,” Joyce nodded shakily as she took the keyring, and Jonathan ran to go get Will, “But how do we let you know when it’s safe?” She asked, as Jonathan came back with Will over his shoulder. They stepped outside, watching as Jonathan placed Will in the back seat.

“My supercom,” Mike replied, “I left it in your car. Tune it to channel 10.”

“Channel 10, got it.” Joyce nodded, grabbing her car keys, as she, Jonathan, Nancy, and Bob moved to enter the vehicle. “Hopper, John,” She addressed them, “Good luck.” And she finally pulled away, leaving just the others.

“You too, ma’am.” John nodded, as he turned to Hopper and El. “We should get going too.”

Hopper nodded and went to go procure his own set of keys.

“Right…” El nodded as well. “Okay.”

“El, wait.” Mike came up toward her. He came to a stop in front of her, fidgeting awkwardly. He fiddled with his hands, before leaning in, and planting a kiss on her lips.

El recoiled, eyes wide with surprise and shock, before her attention was quickly caught by something else.

“John!” Cortana called, being supported by Steve, came running out.

“What is it?” He questioned, “Is there something wrong?”

“Take off your helmet.” She requested.

“What?” John’s eyebrow raised.

“Did I stutter?” Cortana rhetorically asked. “Take it off. Please.”

John sighed, but relented, as the helmet released with a hiss. He put it at his side, and Cortana looked up at him, an unreadable expression in her gaze. Cortana, very slowly, reached a hand up to John’s face, making contact.

“…I’ve waited so long to do that…” She breathed, looking the SPARTAN dead in the eyes

“Cortana,” John slowly began, “What-?”

He found himself being cut off when Cortana pulled him down, forcing her lips against his.

To the side, Hopper coughed, jangling his keys.

Cortana released John with a gasp. “Right, well… You have a world to save. El,” She turned to the girl, “Be careful. And make sure he comes back, please?”

“I will, mama.” El nodded.

Cortana smiled, as John quietly put his helmet back on, as he, Hopper, and El moved to the Blazer. “And Chief? I realize that there’s no longer two of us in there but-“

“Don’t worry,” John responded, climbing into the vehicle, “I’ll keep my head down.”

Cortana, though she continued outwardly projecting a smile, fought hard to beat down the intense feeling of dread as they pulled away.

It was just her, Steve, and the four children now.

****

The ride over to the lab was spent in mostly silence, as El clung to John’s side like he was a lifeline. She was scared, she had to admit. Even though she knew she could do it, and that John and Hopper would have her back, the overwhelming feeling of terror continually took her over.

There were so many things that could go wrong, and if even one of them did, it would mean the end of everything.

John too, felt uneasy, but maybe for not the same reasons. He trusted El, and he trusted that she knew her own limits, and he trusted his and Hopper’s own ability to keep her safe. Yet despite that, he didn’t feel safe putting his girl in danger.

John froze in his thoughts. Since when did he begin thinking of El as his?

“John,” El suddenly spoke up, “I’m scared.” She admitted, looking up at the golden visor.

“I know.” He rumbled. “I’m scared too.” He admitted, trying to establish common ground to make her feel better.

“What if…” She breathed. “What if I can’t do it? What if something goes wrong? What if I do it, but Will-“

“Hey,” He gently placed a steady hand on her shoulder, “I know you’re scared, and I know all you can do right now is think, but thinking about it is only going to make it worse.”

El looked ahead blankly. “I can’t stop.”

“I know the feeling.” John replied, because he did know the feeling. Pre-mission jitters were always the worst, even for SPARTANs, when a million thoughts were racing through your head with no way to stop them.

“…Will was going to ask me to the Snow Ball.” El said. “Mike, too.”

“Snow Ball?” The SPARTAN repeated.

“Yeah, he said it was a… dance.” El explained. “He said it was for people you like. Will said he was going to ask after all this was over.”

“Don’t worry,” John began, “He’ll get the chance to ask you.”

“John?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.” El stated. “I don’t really say it but… Thank you. For taking care of me. For teaching me. For being there for me.”

“You’re very welcome.” John responded. And the vehicle went back to silence, as they pulled up to the monolithic exterior of Hawkins Lab.

****

Cortana was sat down on the couch, as Lucas and Max swept the broken glass, Mike was pacing around nervously, and Dustin and Steve were in the kitchen doing God knows what. She turned on the TV, and tuned it to a channel, any channel, to take her mind off the burgeoning sense of dread growing within her. The others had only been gone for a couple minutes, and despite the colorful antics of Adam West’s Batman, the former AI found herself jittering nervously.

A loud crash came from the kitchen, and Cortana jumped, thinking it was another attack.

“It should fit now.” Dustin said to Steve, Cortana being able to hear everything they said.

“Is this really necessary?” Steve sighed.

“Yes, it is, okay?” Dustin responded. “This is a groundbreaking scientific discovery! We can’t just bury it like some common mammal, okay? It’s not a dog!”

“Alright, fine.” Steve relented. “But you’re explaining this to Mrs. Byers, okay?” Steve grunted as he slammed into something, sending the fridge shaking. After a few moments of obvious struggle, the fridge door slammed loudly.

“What are you two chuckleheads doing in there?” Cortana called. “You’re supposed to be getting rid of the bodies! …That sounded so much worse than it actually is.”

“Relax.” Steve replied, as he came back into the living room. “The bodies are taken care of.”

Mike paced over and over, and Lucas looked up, with an exasperated expression.

“Mike,” Lucas began, “Would you calm down already?”

“You weren’t in there, Lucas.” Mike instantly retorted. “The whole place was crawling with hundreds of those dogs.”

“Demo-dogs!” Dustin yelled from the other room, earning him _the Look_ from Mike.

“John can protect her.” Lucas stated.

Max scoffed. “Like she needs it.”

“Listen, dude,” Steve threw the towel over his shoulder, “Coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. Alright?”

The statement only seemed to irk Mike. “Okay, first of all,” Wheeler began, “This isn’t some stupid sports game.”

Cortana huffed under her breath. “Like DND is any smarter.”

“And second,” Mike continued, ignorant of what she had just said. “We’re not even _in_ the game, we’re on the bench. Some of us more than others.” He directed, looking at Cortana.

“Hey, teach me how to walk, and I’ll be more than happy to take part in whatever asinine scheme you come up with.” Cortana retorted.

“Right, so my point is…” Steve trailed off, as he began to stammer. “Right, yeah, we’re on the bench so there’s nothing we can do.”

“That’s not entirely true.” Dustin began, a clear idea present in his tone, as Steve whipped around to face him. “I mean, the demo-dogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus,” He recalled, “They were called away.”

“So, if we get their attention…” Lucas began, pointing at Dustin.

“Maybe we can call them away from that lab.” Max continued.

“And give John and El the time they need to close the gate.” Cortana finished.

“Yeah,” Steve sarcastically agreed, raising his voice, “And then we all die!”

“That’s one point of view.” Dustin stated.

Mike sharply inhaled. “I got it!” He ran into the other room, the others following him. Well, except one. “This is where the chief dug his hole.” He pointed to a point on the massive map. “This is our way to the tunnel, so…” He came running back into the hallway where Cortana could see them. “Here, right here.” He gestured down. “This is like the hub. If we set this on fire-“

“Yeah,” Steve pointed, “No.” He immediately shut down.

“Then the monster would call away his army from the lab.” Dustin finished for Mike.

“They’d all come to stop us.” Lucas followed.

“Then we all circle around to the exit!” Mike finished.

“Guys.” Steve said.

“By the time they realize we’re gone-“ Mike continued, ignoring Steve purposefully.

“Guys.” Steve shot a pleading look to Cortana.

“El would be at the gate.” Max finished.

“Hey. Hey hey!” Steve clapped his hands together. “This,” He gestured around, “is not happening!”

“But-“ Mike began.

“No, no no no!” Steve shut down. “No buts! I get you have something you think you need to prove but killing yourselves isn’t the way to do it! I promised I’d keep you shitheads safe, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do! We’re staying here, on the bench, and we’re waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand that?”

“This isn’t some stupid-“ Mike tried his luck.

 _“Understand!?”_ Steve repeated. “I need a yes.”

“Guys,” Cortana pulled their attention to her, looking out the living room window, as the revving of an engine got close, “Do any of you know someone with a blue camaro?”

Max took in a breath, and ran over to the window, looking out of it with Cortana. “Billy.” Max breathed with fear.

“Who?” Dustin furrowed his brow.

“My stepbrother.” Max answered. “He, he can’t know I’m here!” She stuttered. “He’ll kill me!”

“Alright, relax,” Steve stepped forward, “I’ll take care of him.” He said, going outside to meet Billy head-on.

“Oh, he looks pissed…” Cortana remarked, seeing Billy emerge from the vehicle.

“Am I dreaming,” Billy taunted, puffing on a cigarette, “Or is that you, Harrington?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” Steve replied nonchalantly. “Don’t cream your pants.”

Billy gave a predatory grin as he removed his jacket and Steve approached.

“What are you doing here, amigo?” Billy questioned, as he approached.

“Funny,” Steve replied, closing the distance, “I could ask you the same thing.” Steve crossed his arms.

“I’m looking for my stepsister.” Billy leveled dangerously. “A little birdie told me she was here.”

“Come on Steve…” Cortana whispered, watching the scene fold with unease. “Get him out of here…”

“Huh, that’s weird.” Steve shook his head. “I don’t know her.”

“Small.” Billy gestured with his fingers. “Redhead. Bit of a bitch.”

Steve drew his lips into a line. “Can’t say it rings a bell. Sorry.”

Billy clicked his tongue, and pulled his cigarette out of his mouth, stomping it out. “You know, I don’t know this…” He theatrically sighed. “Whole situation, Harrington, I don’t know. It’s giving me the heebie-jeebies.”

“Oh, yeah?” Steve continued, oblivious to the onlookers. “How’s that?”

“My thirteen-year old sister goes missing for the past two days, nobody can find her, and then I find her with _you,”_ Billy gestured to Steve, “In a stranger’s house. And you lie to me about it.”

“How sweet,” Max sarcastically mumbled, “If he wasn’t fucking psychotic.”

Steve chuckled and shook his head. “Man, were you dropped on your head too much as a child, or what?” Which made Billy let out a dangerous chuckle. “I don’t know what you didn’t understand about what I said,” Steve continued, “But she’s not here.”

“Oh,” Billy responded sarcastically, “Then who is that?” He questioned, pointing to the window with his cigarette.

“Shit!” Cortana cursed, pulling herself away from the window. “Get down!” She ordered, pushing Max away from the glass. “Dustin, Mike, help me get into the kitchen!”

“But-“ Mike began.

“Now!” She shouted, leaving no room for argument. Dustin and Mike placed themselves on either side of her and helped her walk into the kitchen. “Come on, come on…” She looked around frantically. The front door was kicked open, slamming against the wall, and Dustin and Mike released her in a panic, forcing the woman to brace herself against the counter as they went running back into the living room.

“Well, well, well.” Billy began, seething with anger at seeing the three boys around Max. But one in particular was the target of Billy’s anger. “Lucas Sinclair.” Billy slowly stepped forward. “I thought I told you to stay away from him, Max.”

“Billy,” Max shakily began, “Go away.”

“You disobeyed me, Max.” Billy seethed. “And you know what happens when you disobey me.”

“Billy…” Max began.

“I break things.” Billy, moving as fast as lighting, picked up Lucas, and pinned the boy to the wall.

“Lucas!” Mike yelled, and the resultant shouting of all the kids drowned each other out in an indistinct jumble of screams.

“Get off of me,” Lucas began, “You-“

Billy slammed Lucas into the shelves nearby. “Since Maxine won’t listen to me, maybe you will…” Billy clenched his fists tighter. “You stay away from her. _Stay,”_ Billy roared, pushing Lucas up against the container with more force, “Away from her, you hear me!?”

“I said get off me!” Lucas shouted, going for Billy’s crotch with a kick, making him release his hold on Lucas and sending him reeling over in the process.

“You’re so dead, Sinclair!” Billy roared, standing back up. “You’re dead!”

During the confrontation, neither of them noticed the others falling silent, as someone approached Billy from behind.

“Hey, asshole,” A pan collided with the back of Billy’s head, sending him down to the ground again.

Cortana seethed, standing over Billy completely unsupported. “No one. Lays a finger. _On my kids.”_

Billy’s eyes narrowed. “You _bitch.”_ He spat as he returned to his full height.

“Is that any way to talk to a lady?” A voice from the left caught him, as Steve’s fist collided with Billy’s jay.

“Steve!” Max yelled in surprise, as Billy let out an over-the-top sarcastic laugh.

“Looks like you got some fight in you after all!” Billy cackled, pointing at Steve. “I’ve been waiting to meet this _King_ Steve everybody’s been telling me so much about.” Billy said as he got closer.

Steve’s eyes narrowed. “Get out.” He ordered dangerously, shoving Billy back.

Billy tensed up, and swung, Steve ducking under it before it could connect.

“Steve?” Cortana began.

“Yes?” Steve replied, a bit winded from dodging the blow.

“Let’s shut him up.” And she swung the pan at the back of Billy’s head again, the cookware connecting with a painful clang.

“Yeah!” Dustin yelled, throwing his hands up. “Kick his ass!” 

Billy staggered against the sink, and reached over to his side, grabbing a plate. He smashed it over the top of Steve’s head, sending the other teen recoiling back against the dining room table. Cortana went for another swing, but Billy merely pushed her out of the way, dead set on reaching Steve.

“Shit!” Dustin yelled, ducking as Billy wound up for another punch. The punch connected, sending Steve staggering back again.

“No one,” Billy began, grappling onto Steve with murder in his eyes, “Tells me what to do.” Billy headbutted Steve, and tossed him back, sending Steve sliding across the floor. “Whoo!” Billy yelled, feeling the adrenaline in his veins. Billy got on top of Steve, rolled him over, and began to punch, over and over, sending the other boy’s blood splattering all over the place.

Cortana came staggering out of the kitchen, having righted herself, and looked on the scene with rage. Something to her left caught her attention, and she grabbed it. One of the sedative needles they pilfered on their way out of the lab.

The pan slammed into the side of Billy’s head, harder than it had the past two times, sending Billy himself to the ground, as Cortana stood over him again. Cortana ripped the cap off with her teeth, and before Billy could get the change to get back up, the former AI took aim, and jammed it into the exposed skin where his neck and shoulders met. _Hard._

Billy gasped, feeling the needle and injector sticking out.

“The hell is this?” Billy gasped, pulling it out. He tried to get back to his feet, but couldn’t, as his whole body went numb. “The hell did you do to me you… you…” Billy trailed off, turning over.

Max, flying into a rage-induced fury, picked up Steve’s nailbat from where it lay discarded nearby. “From now on, you leave me and my friends alone,” She outlined dangerously, “Understand?”

Billy let out a delirious laugh. “Screw you, you little shit.”

Max, in absolutely no mood to be dealing with Billy’s shit, swung the bat down, narrowly missing his crotch by centimeters as the tip of the bat lodged itself in the floor.

Cortana, who didn’t even have the same… equipment, recoiled in shared pain, as Billy looked to the bat with the most fearful expression any of them had ever seen him wear.

“Say you understand!” Max yelled, pulling the bat back up. “Say it. Say it!”

Billy swallowed, but whether that was from discomfort or blood was anyone’s guess. “I understand.”

“What?” Max demanded, though she had heard him perfectly.

“I understand.” Billy repeated, as he finally fell unconscious.

Cortana let out a final, spent sigh, dropping the pan to the ground. “Thank God that worked. I didn’t know what I was going to do if it didn’t.”

Max, pushing past Cortana, reached into Billy’s pocket, and pulled out a jangling set of keys. “Let’s get out of here.” She stated, holding them up for the others to see.

“I can’t stop you,” Cortana questioned, “Can I?”

“Nope.” Mike replied.

Cortana sighed again, this time more out of exasperation. “Okay, I’m coming with you.”


	14. Floodgate, Part Two

Hopper’s blazer pulled into the parking lot of the lab, past the cars that were long abandoned by their deceased owners. He turned the car off, and jumped out, John and El following.

El looked up at the ominous building anxiously, swallowing nervously as she could _feel_ the immense, evil presence twisting around the building. Hopper came around to the other two, cocking his gun as he looked up at the building.

“You two ready?” Hopper inquired of the both of them.

“Ready.” John confirmed, pulling the assault rifle off his back. “El?”

El’s expression was obviously uncomfortable, as she looked up at the place where it all began. In a way, she supposed, all of this was her fault. Opening the gate, letting the Primordial loose, pulling John and Cortana to this time… All of it was on her.

And now, it was on her to make it right.

El swallowed, nervously, but surely. “I’m ready.”

“All right.” Hopper nodded, as the three began moving toward the building.

“You stay behind us,” John instructed, as they approached the entrance, his heavy footfalls echoing out into the night. “Hopper and I will deal with the brunt of it, you conserve your strength until we get to the gate. Got it?”

“Got it.” El nodded, as the three charged into the building.

****

“Whoa!” Cortana screamed, clutching onto a roof handle for dear life. She was in the passenger seat, instructing Max with a map. Mike, Lucas, and Dustin were in the back. Steve was layed out over the center console, legs draped on either side as his head sat in the seat. And Max, she was driving the fucking thing.

“Careful, Max!” Dustin shouted, tending to what he could of Steve’s wounds. “There’s not a lot of room back here!”

“Do _you_ want to drive!?” Max yelled back, her eyes still on the dark road.

“I would very much like to!” Dustin retorted, as Max took another screeching turn.

“And here I thought John was a bad driver.” Cortana nauseously wretched as she was sloshed around by the motions.

Steve stirred groggily, looking around in confusion, and his eyes eventually landed on Mike. “Nancy?”

Mike shot Steve the most sarcastic, scathing look he could muster.

Steve groaned, his hand going to his nose.

“No, no,” Dustin berated, pulling Steve’s hand away, “Don’t touch it.” Steve’s gaze locked on Dustin. “Hey, buddy… He kicked your ass. He kicked your ass, and it was Cortana who knocked him out, but you put up a good fight?”

“Okay, you’re going to keep straight for half a mile.” Cortana instructed to Max, looking down at the map. “Then make a left on Mount… Sinai.”

“Ugh.” Steve moaned, looking around. “Wait… Where are we?”

“We’re in Billy’s car,” Dustin answered, “Heading to the tunnels.”

“I thought I said we weren’t going to do that.” Steve groaned. “Oh, God, Cortana’s not driving, is she? She can barely walk.”

“Go to hell, Steve.” Cortana replied. “And no, I’m not. It’s… much worse than that.”

Steve’s eyes landed on Max, and it took him a moment to register what he saw. His eyes shot open to plate-size, “Oh, my God…” Steve began to heave.

“Steve, relax, she’s driven before…” Dustin tried to placate the panicking teen.

“Yeah,” Mike suddenly found the urge to speak up, “In a parking lot!”

“It still counts.” Lucas defended.

“Oh, my God.” Steve groaned.

“They were going to leave you behind.” Dustin tried to explain.

“Oh, my God!” Steve parroted himself.

“I promised that you would be cool,” Dustin told Steve, over the revving of the engine.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!” Steve panicked, feeling the car speed up. “What’s going on!? Oh, my God, no! Stop the car!” He commanded, sounding like he was witnessing his whole life flash before him. “Slow down!”

“I told you he’d freak out!” Lucas shouted at Dustin.

“Stop the car!” Steve yelled again.

“I swear to God, if you don’t cut it out back there, I will have her turn this car right around!” Cortana turned around to them.

“Everybody shut up!” Max suddenly screamed. “I’m trying to focus!”

“Wait, shit!” Lucas cursed, pointing at the street. “That’s Mount Sinai! Turn left!”

Max veered left, and they smashed into a mailbox as the car turned down the street.

“Aah!” Steve screamed.

“I think I’m going to vomit…” Cortana wretched.

“Not in the car!” Max shouted.

****

It was getting tired of the humans, playing about at thinking they could defeat It. Its thrall awoke in a room covered in sheets and paper, concealing the structure of the place. The mother, the boy’s kin, the kin’s mate, and the mother’s mate stood to the side, looking down on It with angry gazes. So, they had moved, and took the same steps to ensure It couldn’t figure out where they were. Prudent.

Well, if the stupid apes took the time to unplug the phone, that is.

But then, It began to realize something. It was burning. One unfortunate side effect of being trapped in the hell It found Itself in was, in order to survive the extreme cold of the place, It had to become one with the cold. Which meant that the heat that most other beings were comfortable with was akin to being on the surface of a star. It was something It would have to mutate out of when It finally got out, but right now, It would have to stay as such. Trying to fix it now would sooner harm It than help It.

It was an unfortunate weakness. One that extended to the piece of Itself that remained in the child.

A weakness that the humans figured out how to exploit.

“What’s happening?” It demanded, thrashing against the restraints of the bed It was strapped down on. “It hurts!” It began to thrash harder, as the burning sensation ate away at Its skin. It couldn’t lose connection now, It was too close. “It hurts! It hurts It hurts! It hurts!” It screamed, as the thrashing served only to make the burning worse. “Let me go! Let me go! It hurts!”

The mother, who was looking at It with a blank look, had her face suddenly twist with anger, as she went to the machines nearby, turning up the dials on the torture equipment.

The act only served to anger It. “Let me go! It hurts!” How dare those stupid apes? They were in the presence of a living god! “Let me go! It hurts!”

“Mom.” The boy’s kin turned to her.

“No!” The mother replied, turning the dial up on the next set of machines.

And the burning worsened.

****

The car’s engine growled as it turned the final corner, into the field that held the entrance into the tunnel network.

Max slammed on the brakes, and the car came to a scraping halt.

Steve yelled as the inertia threw him forward slightly, and he was forced to brace his legs against the dash. “Whoa, hello!”

“Whoa!” Dustin breathed, leaning back in the seat.

“Incredible.” Mike complimented with a smile.

“Told you guys,” Max turned around. “Zoomer.” She pulled the keys out of the ignition, and threw the door open, stepping out.

Cortana followed, much more slowly, as the rest of them filed out.

Lucas went around to open the trunk, and Steve groaned as he fell to the ground.

“Guys…” Steve groggily said, lifting himself up, and bracing himself against the car door.

Lucas began handing out pairs of gloves, goggles, and bandanas, the group working quickly to put them on.

“Come on, guys…” Steve groaned. “You could have at least stopped them…” He directed to Cortana, who was affixing her own set to her head.

“I could’ve.” Cortana repeated. “But have you _met_ these kids? We both know they’d just go off and do it anyway.”

Mike grabbed the can of gas and walked around the side of the car. “Hey, where are you going?” Steve questioned, but the kid ignored him. “Hey! Are you deaf!? Hello~!” The rest of the group walked around the side. “Hey, we are not going down there right now! I made myself perfectly clear! Hey, there is no _chance_ we’re going to that hole, alright!?” He yelled, as they began setting up the equipment. “This ends, right now!” He yelled, throwing a bandana back into the trunk.

“Steve!” Dustin yelled, holding out a placating hand. “You’re upset, I get it. But the bottom line is, a party member requires assistance.” He outlined, as the others carried the canisters of gas down into the hole. “And it is our _duty_ to provide that assistance. Now, I know you promised Nance that you would keep us safe.” He began, reaching into the trunk for a backpack. Steve’s nailbat stuck out of the top, and Dustin forced the pack into Steve’s arms. “So keep us safe.”

Steve sighed, looking to Cortana. The woman, brandishing a cast-iron skillet she’d stolen from the Byers’s kitchen, shrugged.

Steve sighed, shaking his head, but accepted the pack regardless. “If we all die, I’m killing you first.” Steve put on the goggles and bandana and took the lead down into the hole. He grabbed onto the metal cable, and jumped down, letting it slow his fall.

Steve did a quick survey of the area and called up: “We’re clear!” And the others came jumping down.

Cortana looked at the walls of the cave with a grimace. It reminded her of High Charity just a bit too much. And that was all the push she needed to burn this place to the ground.

“I think it’s this way.” She pointed down one tunnel, map in hand.

“You sure about that?” Mike asked, as she and Steve began to lead the way.

“Yes, I’m sure!” Cortana shot back. “You’re the one who wanted to do this, so shut up and get behind me!”

“Ooh, the disrespect.” Dustin found something to tease, despite the severity of the situation.

“Shut up and get behind me… sir.”

****

Hopper, John, and El turned a corner, sweeping the hall for demo-dogs. So far, mercifully, the place was clear. It was likely that, after eliminating the human presence within the building, they were called back to defend the gate itself.

“Clear.” John redundantly reported, as they proceeded down the next hallway. The three made it to the entrance of the stairwell and marched inside heading down. Immediately, John’s attention was drawn to the blood smears on the railing, and the heavy panting of somebody further down. He held up a hand, telling the other two to wait there, and proceeded down, tensing his grip on his assault rifle just in case.

John rounded the railing, looking down to the bottom, and there, in the corner, was-

“Doctor Owens.” John recognized, relaxing the grip on his weapon, and he could hear Hopper and El proceeding down after him. The doctor was in a bad state, slumped up in the corner, bleeding heavily from a wound on his leg.

Owens panted, looking into the SPARTAN’s visor. “Hey, big green… Didn’t expect to see you back so soon.”

“Looks like the creatures did some damage.” John remarked, looking over the wound. “Here,” He began, reaching into the small storage compartment on his leg. “I’ve got something that will help.” The SPARTAN pulled out a small biofoam injector. The stuff was well past its expiry date, and wouldn’t be invented for another few hundred years, but the doctor’s needs trumped his own. “This might sting a little.” The SPARTAN warned, as he began applying the foam.

“You…” El slowly approached. “Stayed behind?”

“Yeah.” Owens nodded slightly, fighting back a grimace as the stuff was applied. “I was… trying to keep them inside.” The man scoffed humorlessly. “Guess that didn’t work out too well, did it?”

El thinned her lips and looked Owens up and down. John and Hopper couldn’t guess what she was looking for, but they supposed she found it when she gave a single, satisfactory nod. “Good man.”

“Well, if I’ve got your seal of approval…” Owens chuckled, and his gaze turned back to the SPARTAN. “What’re you doing back here?”

“Saving the planet.” Hopper spoke up for him. “And after all this is done, maybe you’d ought to return the favor. Maybe, I don’t know, help him,” He gestured to John, “Her,” To El, “And a certain third individual get on the track to living a normal life, huh?”

John looked at Hopper in confusion. Just what the hell had compelled him to do that? The police chief didn’t owe them anything, in fact, they owed him, for allowing them to post up in his cabin for the past year. But the SPARTAN couldn’t lie…

The dream of living a normal life was a tempting one indeed.

Owens raised an eyebrow. “Tell you what, we get out of this, and I’ll… I’ll think about it.”

Hopper nodded and planted his revolver in Owens’s hands.

“It’s done.” John reported, standing back up. “It’ll dissolve by itself in a few hours, until then, try not to interfere with the wound.”

Owens nodded, as they went to open the door to the next level.

“Don’t go anywhere.” Hopper sarcastically shot to the doctor.

Owens chuckled, and soon, the three had gone. Off to save the planet.

****

“Okay,” Cortana guided, looking down at the map, “It should be just around this bend….”

The group walked through the caves, and Cortana had to fight the urge to grimace every time the alien beneath her squelched with each step. The smell of the place, by far, was the worst part. It was like rot, death, and decay concentrated into a single sense. But still, she pushed through it, leading the group through

“God…” Lucas breathed, staring up at a growth on the cieling.

“What even is this place?” Max questioned, her voice echoing throughout the enormous space.

“It’s a smaller hub, separate from the main one.” Cortana answered, looking around. “I’m willing to bet that, from here, you could get to most of East Hawkins with no one the wiser.” She sighed and looked back at them. “Come on, the actual hub shouldn’t be too much farther, let’s move further in.”

But Dustin, however, fell behind, as his view locked on something they hadn’t seen. “What the hell…?” He breathed, staring up at a glowing red pustule growing out of the rock. Dustin stood right under it, looking up, and whatever he was expecting, he didn’t expect what happened next.

The blob began shooting out the same spores that filled the air of the caves, right onto Dustin.

“Shit!” The boy yelled, falling to the ground, coughing. “Help! Help!”

The others came running back around the corner, as Dustin struggled to get away, screaming.

“Dustin!” Max yelled with fright.

“Dustin!” Steve planted his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

“It got in my mouth!” Dustin shouted, hacking. “Some got in my mouth! Shit!” He wretched, as the coughs suddenly died down. “I’m okay.” He said, looking to the others as he got to his feet.

“You serious, dude?” Steve questioned, releasing his grip.

“What the hell was that all about?” Cortana inquired, as Dustin secured his bandana around his mouth.

“That fucking thing,” Dustin pointed to the growth on the ceiling, “Puked on me.”

“Good God…” Mike breathed, looking up at it. “What _is_ that?”

Cortana, upon recognizing the general shape of it, damn near froze in fear, but her protective instincts overrode her fear response, and she pulled the kids back from it. “It’s a growth pod. The Flood uses them to incubate infection forms in their hives, but here… It looks like it’s being used to produce these spores that are floating all over the place.” She turned to look at Dustin. “Are you sure you’re fine? Any pain? Discomfort? A desire to proclaim yourself the monument to all our sins?”

“Yes, no, double no, and what?” Dustin answered.

Cortana let out a relieved sigh. “Okay, you’re fine. Come on.” She led the group down another branching tunnel, rounding the curve into another opening. Cortana came to a slow stop, the others behind her following suit, as they stared up at the cavernous ceiling above them. “ _Here_ is the actual hub…”

The whole place was rounded like a dome, and dozens of tunnels, of varying size, branched off in every direction. At the center of it all, was another fleshy growth on the ground, shaped like a pedestal.

“This was under us the whole time?” Steve questioned, shining his flashlight over the giant structure.

“This isn’t a recent thing…” Cortana swallowed. “The monster, the Precursor, the Primordial, whatever you want to call it… It’s been digging all this time. Damnit, I should’ve known the Demogorgon wasn’t an isolated incident. We could’ve nipped this in the bud before it became a problem…”

“What is that?” Max’s eyebrows furrowed, staring at the pedestal.

“If I had to guess? It’s where those demo-dogs are being born.” Cortana answered, practically glaring at it. “Looks like we got your wish, Dustin, we found out where Dart came from.”

“But,” Dustin looked up, “How’d he get to my house?”

Cortana shrugged. “Probably just a lucky accident. Mike,” She turned to him, “You still got that gas can?”

Mike nodded. “Let’s drench it.”

Using spray pumps they brought into the place with them, the group filled them with gasoline, and began spraying over every inch of exposed rock and flesh, drowning out the smell of stinky rot with the smell of chemicals.

And if Cortana had her way, she was going to see the place burn.

****

“Raagh!” It screeched, trying to break through the restraints with strength alone. It had had enough of these dull creatures. “I’ll kill you!” It roared, directing the fury in Its voice solely on the mother. This only served to intensify the mother’s anger, as she went to move one of the machines closer to It.

By now, It was well aware that screaming, attempting to use the emotions of the ape against her, wasn’t going to work. So instead, It began resorting to threats, as Its veins blackened and bulged out of Its skin.

“It’s not working.” The boy’s kin spoke up. “It’s not working!” He yelled. “Mom, are you listening to me!?”

“Just wait!” The mother responded.

“How much longer!?” The kin demanded.

“It’s either this, or he dies!” She shouted.

“You’re killing him!” The boy’s kin shouted, pointing at Its writhing body. The man went to Its side, intending to release Its restraints.

“Jonathan, wait!” The mother tried to pull him back.

“Jonathan.” The kin’s mate spoke up. “Jonathan! Look!” She roared, pointing. “His neck!”

The kin froze, having not yet released the restraints, as It began to screech. Had It waited just a moment longer, It would’ve been released, but It didn’t care. It was an immense being, but the shock of one of Its thralls dying while still connected to It would be too much for even It to handle, disorienting It for too long for Its plans to come to fruition.

It tore the loose restraint and began reaching for the other one. The mother dived on top of It, trying to stop It from succeeding. It reached up and grabbed onto her throat. She began gasping for air, as It began choking her in retribution for the pain she subjected It to.

And It was enjoying it.

****

John, Hopper, and El turned another corner, coming up on the last intersection before the gate. Distantly, John could hear the growling of one of the dogs, and he held up a fist to stop the other two, before moving forth around the next corner.

The plate metal door into the gate room was still open, and the machines in the room chittered away like there was nothing wrong. John’s eyes darted down to his motion tracker. Three dogs, slowly walking around the inside. They would be easy to deal with, but the moment he opened fire on one, the entire army would likely be set loose upon them.

And while there was much he could do, even he couldn’t take on an entire army. Either they would slow them down enough for the monster to come through fully, or, the brunt of the force would keep him distracted enough for them to attack El and Hopper. Which, for obvious reasons, was a very bad thing.

John sighed. It seemed that his luck had finally, truly, run out.

It wasn’t going to stop him, though.

****

“Alright,” Steve began, he and the others a safe distance away. “You guys ready?”

“Ready.” Mike nodded.

“Ready.” Lucas concurred.

“Ready.” Max agreed.

“Ready.” Dustin confirmed.

Steve turned to Cortana. “You want to do the honors?”

Cortana let out a sharp smile and took the flip lighter Steve was carrying. She flipped it open and hit the striker, setting it alight.

Cortana bristled with rage, staring directly at the pool of gas at the center of the cave. Before she wound up to toss the lighter, she offered one last sentence of wisdom, summing up not only hers, but the others’ thoughts on the matter.

“Burn you son of a bitch…”

****

It was enraged. It was going to kill the dumb mammals slowly and painfully, relishing every second with delight as it watched the fight leave the mother’s eyes

Until something even hotter than the burning it was experiencing plunged into Its side.

It let out a painful screech, releasing the woman.

****

John charged into the gate room, assault rifle at the ready as one of the dogs screeched at him.

****

“Get out of my son!” The mother roared, holding down one of Its arms.

****

“Burn you son of a bitch!” Cortana yelled, throwing the lighter into the pool of gas. Upon the millisecond the lighter made contact, the entire place erupted into a blaze of flaming orange, the tendrils across the ground screeching with agony.

“Go!” Steve gestured to the others. “Go, go, go!” He ordered, as they charged back down the way they came in.

****

The dogs screeched, but not in a predatory manner. Almost like they were…

John inhaled, as he realized what was happening. It was Joyce, trying to get the monster out of Will, it had to be. The dogs screeched and charged down into the open hole in the gate room, leaving only him.

“Come on!” John directed out into the hall. He didn’t know exactly how much time Joyce had bought them, but he did know one thing.

They were operating with a very, _very_ small window of opportunity.

****

The burning was everywhere, everything. The apes had tricked It, diverted It with the boy in order to disguise their true target. The hub, from which Its army was birthed, was now burning just as much as It.

It had to get out, now.

The thrall began to let out a painful wail as It withdrew Its presence from the body. The piece of Itself It left behind sprung out, and flew off into the cold, dark night.

Alone.

****

“Will,” Joyce shook her son, tears falling even though she had succeeded at what she set out to do, “Will… Please wake up, Will.”

Will stirred, his eyes opening slowly. “Mom?” He focused on the woman, as she let out a joyous laugh. His head darted around, taking in the heaters, the blankets, and the fire burning in the next room.

“What are we doing in John’s cabin?”

“Don’t worry about that.” She cried, leaning down to embrace him. “You’re back. You’re back…”

****

_(Recommended listening for the gate sections: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGKmKicoFc0)_

John took the first steps onto the lift, El following in behind him.

 _“Chief, chief, do you copy?”_ The radio at Hopper’s side flickered to life.

“Yeah.” Hopper responded. “I’m here.”

_“Close it!”_

Hopper nodded once at the SPARTAN, and John hit the button, sending the lift down into the pit.

As the lift descended, El stared at the massive glowing fissure with fear and awe. El reached out to John’s armored hand, and took it in her own, needing the security it gave her.

In one way or another, it would end here.

****

“Oh my God!” Steve yelled as the group ran back through the caves. “Oh my God! Oh my God!”

“This way!” Cortana pointed down a cave, taking charge.

“Ah!” Mike yelled, as he tripped and fell. He struggled to get back up, but something had wrapped itself around his leg. “Help!” He shouted into the distance as it pulled him down. “Help!”

****

John hit the button, and the lift came to a groaning halt, suspended directly in front of the glowing tear in the world.

El looked up at John fearfully, and the SPARTAN returned her look with a steady nod, silently reminding her that, no matter what happened, he was right there.

El swallowed, and released John’s hand, her eyes narrowing as she stared at the gate.

El reached out her hand, and the air began twisting around her. El shook with force, as the gate began to rumble and growl, a shadowy figure rising up behind the glowing membrane.

The Primordial was there.

El’s breathing began to speed up, as the titanic alien surged forward.

****

“Help!” Mike kicked at the fleshy vine, as the others came running back around the corner. “Help!”

“Someone help me pull him out!” Cortana ordered, grabbing underneath Mike’s shoulders, as the others worked with her.

“Everybody back!” Lucas yelled, as Steve came charging around with his nailbat.

Steve raised the bat above his head, and brought it down hard, right onto the vine. It screeched, spitting out black blood as it retreated, releasing Mike.

“Whew,” Cortana sighed, pulling Mike to his feet. “You okay?” She questioned, as she and the others began gathering around Mike, chittering nervously.

“Guys, we gotta go-“ Steve began, but he was cut off by a screech emanating from one of the caves.

A dog had found them. But, instead of attacking, it came to a stop, simply standing there as it looked on the group.

“Is that…?” Cortana began, even though she had no reason to believe it. After all, all the dogs looked the same.

“Dart.” Dustin swallowed, brandishing the nailbat nervously.

Dart chittered, mandibles flapping, as Dustin slowly approached.

“Dustin, get back.” Max and the others said, trying to pull him away.

“Shh!” Dustin shushed them. “Trust me, please.” Dustin pulled off his bandana and mask as Dart approached. “Hey, it’s me…” Dustin nervously smiled. “Your old pal, Dustin…” He crouched down, as Dart got ever closer. “You remember me? Will you let us pass?”

Dart screeched, sending the group recoiling back.

Dustin, however, wasn’t fazed. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry about the storm cellar.” Dustin chuckled. “That was a pretty douchey thing to do. You hungry?” Dustin reached around for his bag. “Yeah?” He reached inside the pouch, pulling out a full size three musketeers bar.

“He’s insane.” Lucas whispered, looking at the scene with horror.

“Don’t.” Max smacked him in the chest.

Dustin unwrapped the bar and set it on the ground in front of Dart. “There… see? Yummy… all right? Eat up buddy…” And Dustin began gesturing for them to move past as Dart began munching on the candy. “Here… I’ve got plenty more.” Dustin said, sitting another one down, as he went to go join the others. Dart turned around once, huffing at Dustin, before going back to the candy.

Dustin looked down on Dart with sad fondness. “Goodbye, buddy.”

And they continued out, abandoning Dart to his fate with the rest of the place.

****

El’s whole body shook, as she held her hand out towards the gate, the massive tear beginning to heal itself up.

Behind it, the sinister shadowy form of the Primordial growled, as it worked to undo her progress.

El closed her eyes, and focused. She was _not_ going to let it beat her. Too many people were counting on her. Lucas, Dustin, Mike, Will, Joyce, Hopper, Jonathan, Nancy, John, Cortana, even the ones she hadn’t gotten to know very well yet like Bob, Max, and Steve…

They were all depending on her.

El’s eyes snapped back open furiously, as the gate began to stitch itself back together, and the Primordial surged forward again, trying to break through.

****

“Come on!” Cortana yelled, the whole group running to the exit. “We’re almost-“ She was cut off, when the entire cave system seemed to quake, sending them falling to the ground.

“Shit!” Dustin cursed, as they got back up.

A screeching came from the distance, and they whipped around to the source.

“What was that?” Max fearfully asked.

“They’re coming.” Mike breathed, turning back around. “Run! Run!” He screamed, as he and the others went charging down the tunnel.

“Move, move!” Lucas shouted, as they all sprinted forward.

“There!” Cortana pointed, seeing the cable hanging from the ceiling, and the moonlight pouring in. “Go, go!” She and Steve held the cable steady, helping Max out first, then Lucas, after that was Dustin, and after him Mike.

The cave began to rumble, as a massive swarm of dogs approached.

“Shit.” Cortana shakily raised the cast-iron skillet at her side.

“Guys!” The children shouted, as the stampede got ever closer. “Come on!”

Cortana closed her eyes, and braced herself, sending a silent apology to John for dying a second time, and she waited.

But nothing came.

Cortana cracked one eye open, and then the other, looking upon the stampede of dogs with confusion, as they completely bypassed her and Steve.

Mike inhaled, instinctively knowing their target. “El.”

****

Blood began to drip from both of El’s nostrils, as the gate crackled with her attempt to close it. She was still shaking, but now, it seemed to be more out of fury than fear.

John was watching the spectacle, when a red blip popped on his motion tracker, and he reacted instantly, turning around, and firing on a dog climbing up one of the walls. Another blip popped up, and John turned back around, able to catch one of the dogs as it was arcing through the air. It impacted against the side of the lift, and fell to the ground, lifeless.

More blips popped into existence, and John turned to the wall directly opposite of the gate, firing upon the dogs climbing up it. The ammo counter on his HUD and the assault rifle itself hit zero, and John replaced the magazine, going back to firing only a few seconds later.

As John worked to defend her, El raised her other hand, her face twisting with fury at the _thing_ trying to enter her world. Even as the gate closed, a shadowy tendril punctured the membrane, feeling out into the universe.

The tendril reached out, getting dangerously close to her face, and El screamed.

Not with fear, but with fury. It had already damaged enough, no more, El vowed. And as her anger overtook her, El began to levitate into the air. John, who was still focused on dispatching the dogs, found himself looking back with awe, as the air itself pulsed and twisted around her.

And the Primordial’s searching tendril was forced back towards the gate.

Across the town of Hawkins every electronic device, every radio, every television, every lightbulb in every streetlamp and light fixture came to life, all at once, like some biblical show of power.

The headlights in Billy’s car came on of their own accord, bathing the figures standing over the cave system entrance in golden light.

All the way out in John’s cabin, the lights inside sprang to life, turning the place into one massive beacon in the dark, and the people inside could’ve sworn they heard a choir singing.

El screamed, blood falling from her nose and ears, as the shadowy tendril collided against a perfectly solid wall of air, the wall being pushed back towards the gate, as the giant fissure pulsed and glowed red-hot.

The Primordial screeched and boomed, as it’s tendril was forced back through the membrane, the gate itself getting smaller and smaller, as the massive tear thinned out to a thin crack in the wall, and snapped shut, the glow dying as the wall became uniform.

El collapsed to the floor of the lift, as the whole space went dark.

“El!” John shouted, attention pulled away from the dogs as they began falling into the pit, dead. “El!” He crouched down in front of her, sending the lift back up. “El…” He tried to support the back of her head with his hand.

“Dad…” El stirred, looking around in confusion, and John found himself choking up. “Did we…?”

“We did it.” John nodded, and even a non-SPARTAN would be able to pick up on the smile in his voice.

“Okay…” El sighed, nodding weakly. “I’m tired.”

“Get some rest.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

El gave another weak nod, and drifted off into sleep, her eyes finally closing shut, as the lift came to the top of the pit.

And across the town of Hawkins, the lights, the televisions, everything that had been brought to life by El’s power, flickered out slowly, becoming inert once more. And likewise, everything that the Primordial held a connection to, the vines, the dogs, the spores infesting the caves, they too, died, withering away as the connection to their master fizzled out.

It was over.


	15. The Halseys

**_ November 27, 1984 _ **

A knock came on the door of the cabin. Cortana was watching the television, El was doodling absently, and John was working to repair his armor, when they heard the rapping of knuckles against the wood.

Cortana sighed, being closest to the door, and reluctantly got up from the couch, walking over to the door.

She opened it, and leaned against it, raising an eyebrow at the man on the other side. “Chief Hopper.” She recognized, “What are you doing here?”

Hopper held up three envelopes. “Can I come in? It’s important.”

“Fine,” She stepped aside, closing the door behind him. “So, what’s so important about those?” She questioned, as John approached from the side.

“These,” Hopper handed one to John, the other to Cortana, and the last to El. “Are… well, open ‘em.”

John and Cortana exchanged a befuddled look and John opened his envelope first, Cortana watching over his side. Both their eyes widened, as they took in the words etched in ink.

“John Halsey…” Cortana read with reverence, taking in the design of the birth certificate. “Date of birth, March 7, 1946…”

“You all have one.” Hopper stated. “You,” He looked at John, “You,” Cortana, “And you.” He finished, landing on El.

“I don’t understand…” John began. “How-?”

“A parting gift from Doctor Owens.” Hopper said. “He wanted to give them to you himself, but I didn’t allow it. It should all be there, birth certificates, social security, marriage license.”

“Marriage license!?” Cortana’s head whipped back to Hopper.

Hopper let out a soft chuckle. “He figured it’d be weird to make you two related.”

“But…” Cortana began, opening her own envelope, looking at the birth certificate inside. “Why does mine say Horowitz?”

“Joyce volunteered for that one.” Hopper gave a little smile.

“Does this mean…” El began, reading her own, and the names in the parent section. “Does this mean you’re really my dad now?” She directed down.

“I guess it does.” John conceded. “You’re stuck with me now, no take-backs.”

El smiled, and immediately went to hug the SPARTAN.

There were days that John missed his SPARTAN brothers and sisters, wondering what happened to them, if they had been fortunate enough to survive. Part of him mourned the fact that he would never be able to see them again, even for only a fleeting moment.

But as he stood there, El clutching onto him like her life depended on it, and Cortana standing off to the side was a smile on her face, John reminded himself that, while he may have lost one family, he gained another. One that he valued will all his soul.

And that was just fine by him.


End file.
